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EIR CS SEENON ROS HHI RTM
Nema Se Sa 7 . \ ROE? ea d VE SNR &
NAICHOIC AW IRA
\ 4 an RE a (S20 BRAC ‘ , Ey
IN/S oe Pie oP iC Pee)
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ey, (C= (RA yA Se SS ees pes PE y
eg PUBLISHED WEEKLY ¥ (5 Qe TRADESMAN
Thirty-Eighth Year GRAND RAPIDS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1921 Number 1957

 

 

YOU HAVE MADE

Our Success Possible
Now Share in Our Success

Consumers Ice Co. Offers You, Direct, One or More Shares

8 Cumulative Stock Preferred

Both as to dividends and to assets; due and payable March 15, 1931; the right reserved to re-
deem at par, plus 5% premium at any previous dividend period, beginning March 15, 1924;
backed by $500,000 common stock that has paid dividends steadily for 15 years; free from all
present city, county and state taxes and the dividends free from federal normal income taxes.

The Consumers Ice Company has no debts—the stock is being sold merely to provide funds
for building a new plant and is being offered to the public solely to enable them to share in
our success. Holders of the company’s common stock have taken a considerable portion of this
issue—the balance is offered to you.

Subscriptions are payable either in cash with application or 10% with application, 15%
April 15, 25% May 15, 25% June 15 and 25% July 15, 1921. Interim receipts will be
given drawing 8% interest from date of payment to September 15, 1921, when the stock
certificate will be issued. “In case of oversubscription the company reserves the right
to pro-rate same. Also to withdraw any portions of the subscription before it is all sold.

Tae Company is Managed by the Following Well Known Business Men:

President.4. GB. Anowison .. of A. B. Knowlson Co., Coal Dealers
Vice: President—A:. S. Aimsworth 2.62.2... 1... Owner Bennett Fuel and Ice Co.
Secretary—-C. C. Follmer =... .s.---2. 2 gga Lumberman.

Treasuper— Fred Avery 2.00 2 Real Estate.

Director—-Frank, M. Clark 2 23. Ge as President G. R. Ice and Coal Co.
Director(s SE. Wyle. Lumberman.

Mapacerlosepe Frommer .... 205 ok 26 years with this Company.

Phone Your Order, or Send Coupon and Check

Consumers Ice Company,
Grand Rapids, Mich.

This is your opportunity to own and benefit from stock in a company : Ganttanen:

that has been in successful business for 26 consecutive years—a com- | Inclosed find check for $---~--.----..---__--___-... as
pany that supplies a necessity—-a company whose assets give its stock- 7 Pea : aot

holders the most complete protection. Act now and protect your own

168 shares Consumers Ice
interests.
Company 8% Cumulative Preferred Stock at $10.00 per
share par value.

Interim Receipt Draws 8% Interest Also Name --- : a een

Address

‘ a ee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“DOUBLE A”
EASTER TIME IS CANDY TIME.

Be sure your stock is ready for the demand. Ask our salesmen to
show you the NEW PACKAGES of

Lowney’s Chocolates
Paris Chocolates

We also carry a complete line of
JAPANESE EASTER NOVELTIES.

PUTNAM FACTORY, Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

The Machine
you will
eventually

 
   
 

ICTOR
ADDING
MACHINE

Universally conceded to be
the most useful and valuable
machine ever invented for the
purpose intended,

 

M. V. Cheesman, State Distributor,
317 Houseman Bldg.
Grand Rapids, Michigan

00 ALL MACHINES
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INSTANT

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A Line that is Famous for
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NATIONALLY
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Sold Through Wholesale
Grocers Exclusively

as ie Liles

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Your Citizens Phone

Places you in touch with 250,000
Telephones in Michigan.

117,000 telephones in Detroit.

 

 
 

INDEPENDENT

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Direct Copper Metalic Long ©
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CITIZENS TELEPHONE COMPANY

 

Franklin
Golden Syrup

Made from cane su-
gar. The delicious
cane flavor and at-
tractive color of this
syrup is knowntothe
housewife through
its use on the table
and in cooking.

The demand for Franklin Golden
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Otstmpurec st

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PHILADELPHIA

 

 

The Franklin Sugar Refining Company

PHILADELPHIA
**A Franklin Cane Sugar for every use’’ (wen

;Granulated, Dainty Lumps, Powdered,
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VITAMINE—

That word scarcely known a year ago is what gives
its unequaled food-value to Yeast and makes

Fleischmann’s Compressed Yeast

so highly prized as a conditioner.

Remind your customers often.

The Fleischmann Company

 

 

 

 

CaP Rt ARI MR RANE

 

 

 

 

 

ADESMAN

 

Thirty-Eighth Year

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

(Unlike any other paper.)
Frank, Free and Fearless for the Good
That We Can Do.
Each Issue Complete in itself.

DEVOTED TO THE BEST INTERESTS
OF BUSINESS MEN.
Published Weekly by
TRADESMAN COMPANY.

Grand Rapids.
E. A. STOWE, Editor.

 

 

_ Subscription Price.

Three dollars per year, if paid strictly
in advance.

Four dollars per year, if not paid in
advance.

Canadian subscriptions, $4.04 per year,
payable invariably in advance.

Sample copies 10 cents each.

Extra copies of current issues, 10 cents;
issues a month or more old, 15 cents;
issues a year or more old, 25 cents; issues
five years or more old, 50 cents.

 

Entered at the Postoffice of Grand
Rapids under Act of March 8, 1879.

 

 

MUST POLICE THEMSELVES.

The enthusiastic satisfaction with
which the grocery trade hailed the
selection of Herbert Hoover as Sec-
retary of Commerce in the Harding
Cabinet was one of the anomalies of
American politics. According to all
the established precedents of popular
misconception — and that generally
rules the public’s view of the wicked
grocers—the grocers ought to be on
the warpath against Mr. Hoover for
having disciplined and restrained their
buccaneering, profiteering doings dur-
ing the war; yet here they
praising him.

Now Mr. Hoover is apparently
justifying the business man’s enthus-
iasm by outlining a policy which is
strikingly like the plan which made
his wartime Food Administration the
mast successful of any in the world.
If it meets with the success it did
then, it may result in overturning the
fhole governmental attitude toward
anti-trust doctrines and establish a
new reputation for the mercantile
morality and patriotism on the part of
the public at large.

were

3riefly stated, it is evident that Mr.
Hoover proposes to let business cure
its own ills through a measure of co-
operative effort by business men such
as has heretofore been regarded as
impossible and intolerable under the
Sherman and other anti-trust laws.
Just as he did in the war, he banks
on the idea that trade committees are
just as honestly minded and patriotic
as any agency of the Department of
Justice, and that a representative body
can accomplish far more reform by its
influence with the rank and file of
their own competitors than a Depart-
ment of Justice unacquainted with
trade problems and economics and
moved by motives of political popu-
larity.

In other words, Mr. Hoover would
make the trades police themselves, in
conjunction with Governmental super-
vision and authority. During the war
he found that there was injustice in
assuming—as the public and the Gov-
ernment had for so long time past—

GRAND RAPIDS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1921

that co-operation of business men
could only trend in one direction; to-
ward gouging and extortion and con-
spiracy to rob. He also discovered
that the economics of enforced com-
petition, in total disregad of the power
of united effort of honest and public
spirited men, tended away from ef-
ficiency, rather than favoring it. And
he believes that the policy of co-opera-
tion between the Government and the
several trades is more promising than
the anti-trust ideals and practices of
the past, in peace as well as in war.

This is a source of encouragement
to a long-suffering mercantile world,
and sentiment, so far as it can be
weighed, is favorable to living up to
the opportunity and making good, just
as business men did during the war.
It means sympathy instead of antag-
onism at Washington. It means that
the trade has a champion in Washing-
ton, tried and proved as fair minded.
It means management and discipline
through a tribunal which understands
actual conditions, and not one which
is bent on hunting up a convenient
“goat” to trail at the tail of a political
chariot.

At least, this is the way trade lead-
ers express themselves on Mr. Hoov-
er’s announced policy. It may be rad-
ical, but if the business of the country
—the grocers, especially—live up to
their war-time record there is a new
era ahead in governmental relations
with business.

BANISH THE GOMPERS GANG.

If there is one element which Wash-
ington should purge itself of, now that
President Wilson is no longer in the
White House to accord it a hearty
welcome, it is the disreputable Gom-
pers gang of industrial cutthroats.
This gang has been a menace to the
country long enough. It intimidated
both President and Congress during
the critical war period and extorted
legislation which is a standing dis-
grace to America and a stench in the
nostrils of all decent men. In forcing
Congress to enact and the President
to sign the Adamson law it marked
the date of enactment as the darkest
day in American history. In forcing
Wilson to exempt walking delegates
from the operations of the draft, it
placed a club in the hands of thous-
ands of blackmailers to plunder the
country to their heart’s content. The
American people will never have any
peace of mind until the traitors, graft-
ers, slackers, slovens and criminals on
the Gompers staff are relegated to
private life and deprived of the op-
portunity to masquerade as decent
men while they are playing their ne-
farious practices in the halls of Con-
gress and among men in authority at
the seat of government .

The average schoolboy likes out-
door sports considerably more than
he does the inside variety.

Number 195/

DIVINE DISCONTENT.

I have been reading the story of Cecil Rhodes. His life was full of
adventure; it makes excellent reading.
But the passage that interested me most was this:

Riding to the Matoppos one day at the usual four miles an hour, Rhodes
suddenly “Well,

le Sueur, there is one thing I hope for you, and that is that while still a

had not said a word for two hours, when he remarked:

young man you may never have everything you want

“Take myself, for instance: I am not an old man and yet there is
there is De Beers
(the diamond mines that Rhodes controlled) and the railways, and there ts

nothing I want. I have been Prime Minister of the Cape,

a big country called after me, and I have more money than I can spend
You might ask, ‘Wouldn’t you like to be Prime Minister again?’ Well, I
answer you very fairly—I should take it if it were offered to me, but I
certainly don’t crave for it.’

At twenty-five he was so rich that he did not want for any of the things
that money can buy; at thirty-five he did not want anything at all; at forty-
nine he died.

I hope I may never be guilty of writing anything intended to make
poor people contented with their lot.

I would rather be known as one who sought to inspire his readers

with a divine discontent.
To make men and women discontented with bad health, and to show
them how, by hard work, they can have better health.

To make them discontented with their intelligence and to stimulate

them to continued study.

To urge them on to better jobs, better homes, more money in the
bank.

But it does no harm, in our striving after these worth-while things, to
pause once in a while and count your blessings.

Prominent among my blessings I count the joys of anticipation—the
delights of erecting Castles in Spain.

“There would be few enterprises of great labor or hazard undertaken,”
says Dr. Johnson, “if we did not have the power of magnifying the advan-
tages which we pursuade ourselves to expect from them.”
are they to be pitied who have

Blessed gift ef the gods! FElow largely

it not.
Anything he wanted
And, far

joy in life, he found insanity and the detestation of mankind.

Aladdin did not have it. Nero did not have it.

he could have at the instant when he wanted -it. from finding

If you would discover the really happy man of history, look for those
who have striven forward from one achievement to another, drawn by the
power of their own anticipations.

They have made every day yield a double pleasure—the joy of the
present, and the different but no less satisfying joys provided by a wise
imagination.

I believe in day-dreams. I am strong for Castles in Spain. I have a
whole group of them myself, and am constantly building improvements and
making alterations.

Rather,

an incentive to efficiency; they give

I do not let my work upon them interfere with my regular job.
it reinforces the job. My castles are
added reason and purpose to the business of being alive.

For twenty years I have not known what it was to be out of debt.
Debt has been the greatest incentive in my life, because it has spurred me
on to increased endeavor not to disappoint the friends who have trusted
me and the men who have believed in me.

I trust that before | am ready to stop I may have considerably more
money than I now have.

3ut I trust also that I may never have too much money. I. should
not, for instance, like to have as much as Mr. Rockefeller.

Indeed, I feel an almost snobbish sense of superiority when I think
of Mr. Rockefeller and Cecil Rhodes and Croesus and all others of that ilk

For I have everything they have—a roof over my head, two meals a
day, work that I like and the love of good friends.

And I have something else they do not have and can not know.

| have wants.

 

 

BETTER SALESMANSHIP.

Present Need of More Skill and Ex-
perience.
Written for the Tradesman.

Having considered in previous ar-
ticles the buying of the goods, their
display, arrangement and price-ticket-
ing—in short, the preparation of the
store for the coming of the customer
—we will now study the personal ele-
ment as it enters into the selling of
goods, the direct work of the sales-
person with the prospective buyer.

Roughly speaking, all salespeople
may be divided into two classes—the
slightly animated vending machines
and those who really exert themselves
to make We are all familiar
with both types. We know to our an-
noyance the girl who stands at her
counter and if the article you ask for
happens to be out of stock, tells you
“We don’t have it,” with cold finality.
Perhaps she may have something
similar that would answer nicely, but
she does not even mention it. Or it
may be the thing you are looking for
is carried in some other department.
Either she does not know this, or, if
she does, doesn’t tell you. She sug-
gests nothing, she manifests no in-
terest in supplying your want. She
shows absolutely no initiative and not
the slightest degree of resourceful-
ness. Very likely the shifting of her
gum to the other side of her mouth or
her knowing wink at the girl at the
opposite counter, is almost the only
indication that she is human and alive
and not one of the store’s wax figures
accidentally left behind this counter.
It may be she has goods in the line

sales.

you are inquiring about, and so can’

not dispose of you quite so summarily.
In this case she reluctantly brings out
one or two kinds for your inspection.
If you are not entirely suited with any-
thing in this showing, she vouchsafes
nothing further. In some one of those
boxes on the shelf back of her there
may be the article that would*suit you
exactly. You never will know. If
from the meager asortment placed
before you, you make a selection, this
girl will take your money, put it with
the article in the cash carrier, and
nand you the package and the change
when it comes back.

Such a salesperson is simply a cog
in the machinery. By no elasticity of
language can it ever be said that she
of her own efforts makes a sale. It
is only because of expert buying and
the perfection of the impersonal sales
orces of the store, that her presence
there produces any results whatever.
As it is, what she does is an example
of what may be accomplished with the
very minimum of exertion.

We all know also the other type of
salesperson, the kind who seems to
greet the manager every morning with
a cheery, “Well, Boss I suppose you
want these goods sold,” and goes to

‘t with energy and purpose. This
reneral type embraces those of all
e~rades of skill. It includes, on the

cne hand, the affable, polished adept
who never makes a blunder or a
“break,” who has an instinct or in-
tuition for always doing the right
thing at the right time, who works as
smoothly and with as little seeming
effort as some exquisitely perfected
piece of mechanism, and who is al-

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

most as dependable in getting results.
It comprises also the poor tactless
beginner, whose zeal far overbalances
his discretion, and who from sheer
inexperience and ignorance commits
all sorts of blunders and gaucheries:
These two extremes and all between
them belonging to the type, have this
trait in common that commands our
respect—they earnestly desire to
serve loyally the store that pays them,

they are trying honestly to earn their -

money.

In these articles the word salesper-
son often has been used to denote
one of either sex. Salesman and the
masculine pronouns have, for con-
venience, been used in the same way.
A girl was taken as the example of
the vending-machine type, although
examples of just such indifference and
inanity are found among men clerks.

considerably more experience. They
stay in the business longer. Most of
them are in the work on account of
liking it or of having some natural
aptitude for it. Many girls are in
stores not because they like to sell
goods, but because they dislike store
work less than they would dislike be-
ing housemaids. They are hired, some
of them, not for any skill they have
or are likely to attain, but because
they supply the necessary human fac-
tor in the selling machinery, at the
least cost per individual. And the
greatest reason of all for any mascu-
line superiority, is that the men, most
of them, are working to. support a
family or to place themselves in a
position to do this, while a large
proportion of the girls are satisfied
if they receive enough pay to enable
them to dress well and have plenty

 

cipal branches of retail trade.
in percentages of net sales.

business?
Can you beat any of them?

faces the retail trade to-day.

the greatest factors in making sale

 

However, the question arises. Do
women and girls show as great cap-
ability as do men in selling goods ?

This may be answered briefly in
this way: There are women, and the
number is by no means small, so ex-
pert in salesmanship that they are
giving the most adept men in this
line of work a hustle for their laurels;
but most girls and women can’t, or
perhaps more accurately, won’t be-
come as proficient as their masculine
co-workers. Taking at random a hun-
dred saleswomen and a_ hundred
salesmen, there will be found among
the women a greater number who are
simply vending machines, and among
the men more who show a high de-
gree of efficiency in their daily work.
The most zealous champion of the
abilities of women must admit this
fact. A deep student of sociology
will, however, find reasons for it, not
all of which are to the discredit of the
gentler sex.

The men, on an average, will be
found to be several years older than
the girls and women, and to have had

HOW DO YOUR FIGURES COMPARE WITH THESE?

These are the latest figures on various items of expense in the prin-
They represent the common experience,

How do your figures compare with those given for your line of

If you can, write a letter to the Retail
Public Ledger teling how you manage it.

A prize will be awarded for the letter containing the most helpful
suggestion rather than for that making the biggest claim.

No more important question than this one of pruning down expenses
On it will depend the fate of many stores
in the next year or so, for price again has come to the fore as one of

S.

The figures given below were issued by the National Association of
Newspaper Executives, and were compiled from data furnished by the
Harvard Bureau of Business Research and other retail research organ-

izations.
Depart- Hard- Fur- Men’s
Kind of store ment Grocery Drug ware niture clothing Shoe Jewelry

Rent 2 324 $07 402 341 504 304. 321. 498
Salames 2250.0 965 8460 10.95 1011 9.73 9.49 10.51 10.96
Advertising _____ Aoy 183 276 112 3.72 316° 265) 2.85
Heat and light __ 54 9 69 43 92 02, 1:40 61
Delivery —....... A002 = =258 Bl 91 .94 65 46 .09
DUppies —_ 38 of 36 60 Al 43 30 89
Insurance & taxes 1.08 op 1 121 99 A157 107.103 132
General expenses 4.15 AS 449 #$%201 > 110 > 2:31 436 3:95
Depreciation and

shrinkage _____ a) 6 47 me 214° 216 .50 95
Bad debts .. 2. 2h 47 19 ot 104 34 10 21
Total percentagé of
expenses to sales 26.05 18.01 25.65 2041 27.51 23.27 2422 26.81

Specialty store advertising can safely run as high as 5.5 per cent.

 

of spending money until such time as
they shall marry.

Inasmuch as it doubtless makes for
the welfare of society that all young
women do not take themselves and
their careers so seriously that matri-
mony is cut out altogether, the fact
that many saleswomen do not meas-
ure up to the very highest degree of
proficiency, has some cheering
aspects. However, the capable store
manager, even though an optimist and
a sociologist as well, will see to it
that the standard is not allowed to
run low. Almost any bright girl, even
though not bent on reaching the
heights of adept salesmanship, may
be trained to be courteous and atten-
tive and to perform her duties in a
way that is satisfactory to customers.
That all this is practicable is proved
by the polite consideration given
every person who enters the doors in
the best stores.

That this kind of service shall be
required of her, in no way makes a
girl less likely to marry. The young
woman who is too lazy or too per-

March 238, 1921

verse to come up to this standard,
should be let go. No store can afford
to retain her on its pay roll, for no
customer likes the vending-machine
type of salesperson. As was brought
out in a previous article, some buyers
really prefer, when it is possible to
make selections from articles plainly
price-ticketed, without any help from
a salesperson; but there is no cus-
tomer, who, if waited upon at all,
does not resent being served by a
clerk who is indolent and indifferent.
Ella M. Rogers.
Oe
Suggestions For Boosting Sales.
sy supplying his regular and pros-
pective customers with a slip upon
which is printed a large list of various
articles such as are handled by the
average grocer, so arranged as to
serve the customer as an order list, a
Middle Western grocer, has found his
sales increasing very materially there-
from. These slips are 10x44 inches
with the list of articles printed down
through the center of the slip, leaving
a column on either side in which the
customer may check the particular
items she wishes to order in the col-
umn on the left hand side and enter
the amount she wishes to order in the
column on the right hand side. These
slips are put up in books of 50 each.
A hole is punched in the center of
the slips at the top so that it may be
hung up somewhere handy in the
kitchen. On each slip appears a small
advertisement calling attention to
some particular line of goods. The
name and address of the grocer to-
gether with his telephone numbers
appear on each slip and when the
housewife tears off a slip and goes to
the phone to order her goods she is
very apt to call this grocer; at least
this grocer has found that former oc-
casional customers have become regu-
lar customers since he has adopted
the use of this slip. Of course, the
slip serves as a constant reminder to
the housewife to call this grocer and
as a result he gets more orders.
—_.-~-___
Annual Meeting of Post A., T. P. A.
Grand Rapids, March 22—The an-
nual meeting of Post A, Travelers
Protective Association of America,
will be held in the Pantlind Hotel at
3 o'clock, p. m., Saturday, March 26.
The purpose of the meeting is for

the election of a President, Vice-
President, Secretary-Treasurer, four
Directors, delegates to the State

convention* which will be held in Kal-
amazoo, Saturday, April 30, and for
the transaction of such other business
as may properly come before the
meeting.

Any organization prospers accord-
ing to the interest shown by its mem-
bers, and, while we are completing a
fairly successful year, it is due to the
efforts of a few and would look very
small if compared with what could
be accomplished with the co-opera-
tion of all of our members. The of-
ficers therefore urge you to lend your
support by attending this meeting and
helping to select those who are to
manage the affairs of the Post for the
next twelve months.

Following our usual custom, a com-
plimentary dancing party will be given
in the ball room of the hotel at 8:30
p.m. This will be strictly informal
and on account of our large member-
ship must be confined to members
only.

The committees who have charge
of the arrangements are all set and
their advice is, “Don’t be sorry you
didn’t come.”

A. D. Carrel, Sec’y.

 

er Pa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 23, 1921

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TURNOVER

How to conduct their busi-
ness under present conditions
and continue to make a profit
is the problem most merchants
are facing.

We cannot meet the changed
conditions with an effort to in-
crease business from a dollar
and cents standpoint because
the volume of business from
the dollar standpoint is going
to be less than it has been.
However business must get
back to a normal basis where
a buyer of good merchandise
who conducts his business on
business principles must have
a reward for his efforts.

We must get back to sane
merchandising. We must re-
duce our cost of doing busi-
ness. We must avoid extrav-
agances, and we must merchan-
dise more scientifically.

We must study the subject
of turnover. The question of
fast or slow turnover is the de-
termining factor as to whether
or not a business may be profit-
able under present conditions
(If you want information about
turnover write our Merchan-
dising Service Department.)

Successful merchandising to-
day means the greatest possible
volume with the smallest pos-
sible stock Don’t buy in large
quantities! Don’t speculate!
Don’t buy off-grade goods, but
buy the best goods in small
quantities, and buy often.

Those merchants who are
getting the proper turnover to-
day are making profits on their
business. Be a merchandiser—
study turnover, and make your
goods move faster.

— WoRDEN GROCER COMPANY

Grand Rapids—Kalamazoo—Lansing

 

The Prompt Shippers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

March 23, 1921

 

 

 

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Movement of Merchants.

Manton—Edward Sprik succeeds
William Mears in general trade.

Greenville—Baker & Glass have en-
gaged in the plumbing business.

Reading—Levi King succeeds Mor-
ton Douel in the bakery business.

Ashton— Lee Duddles_ succeeds
Swem & Duddles in general trade.

Decatur—J. C. Dubois succeeds
Powers & Grayson in the grocery
business.

Hubbell—Field Bros. has changed
its name to the Stern & Field Stores
of Hubbell.

Detroit—Schneler & Garvey, Inc.,
has changed its name to the Schneler
3attery Service Co.

Ovid—Clare Jones has purchased
the William Generke bakery, taking
immediate possession.

Hastings—Wing & Hammond suc-
ceed Joseph Rogers in the grocery
and produce business.

Harrison—The Harrison Elevator
Co. has increased its capital stock
from $15,000 to $30,000.

Colon—William B. Tomlinson suc-
ceeded by W. B. Tomlinson & Son
in the lumber business.

Nashville—The State Savings Bank
of Nashville has increased its capital
stock from $25,000 to $30,000.

Addison—J. O. Powers, dealer in
drugs, groceries, etc., died at his home,
following a stroke of paralysis.

Traverse City—The FF. Votruba
Harness Co. has change its name to
the F. Votruba Leather Goods Co.

Saginaw—Ernest A. Batz has en-
gaged in business at 1014 Throop
street under the style of the Saginaw
uel & Supply Co.

Grand Rapids—E. J. Farrell, grocer
at 716 Wealthy street, has sold his
stock to John A. Van Dyk, who will
continue the business.

Ravenna--The Ravenna Co-Opera-
tive Shipping Association has changed
its name to the Ravenna Farm Bureau
Market Asociatien, Inc.

Bad Axe—Norton Bros. have sold
their drug stock and store building
to William Ruhl and Norman McGill-
vray, who have taken possession.

Coldwater—A. L. Heimbach, veter-
an grocer and meat dealer, has sold
his stock and store building to Jay
Wickes, who has taken possession.

Breckenridge—The First State Sav-
ings Bank. and the Farmers State
Bank have consolidated and increased
he capitalization from $20,000 to $30,-

90.

Jackson—The Busy “B” Shoe Co.,
123 South Mechanic street, has pur-
ehased the bankrupt stock of the
White Shoe Co. and will consolidate
it with its own.

Big Rapids—F. W. Jewett, formerly
of the firm of Jewett & Knapp, of
Lazsing, has been engaged as mane

ager of the dry goods store of the
late C. D. Carpenter.

Muskegon—E. Storch, for
years in the wholesale produce busi-
ness in Chicago, has opened a whole-
sale produce and fruit house at 31
East Webster avenue.

Lamont—Gerret Ripma has engag-
ed in the grocery business in the
building formerly occupied by John
Gumstra. The Worden Grocer Com-
pany furnished the stock.

Cadillac—Arthur Bolton, who has
been connected with the Cadillac Ice
Cream Co., has secured a_ position
as salesman with the'E. J. Barch &
Sons Candy Co., of Chicago, IIl.

Kibbie—The Kibbie Fruit Exchange
has been incorporated with an auth-
orized capital stock of $15,000, of
which amount $7,570 has been sub-
scribed and $1,500 paid in in cash.

Grand Rapids—The United Furni-
ture Co. has been incorporated with
an authorized capital stock of $25,000,
of which amount $13,000 has been
subscribed and $2,600 paid in in prop-
erty.

Muskegon — A. H. Schultz and
Henry W. Snyder have formed a co-
partnership and engaged in the paint
and wall paper business at 40 Myrtle
street, under the style of the S. & S.
Decorating Co.

Jackson—The Miller Auto Sales Co.
has merged its business into a stock
company under the same style, with
an authorized capital stock of $150,000,
$100,000 of which has been subscribed
and paid in in property.

Ishpeming—A. D. Lafkas, who re-
cently purchased the candy kitchen
on Cleveland avenue from George
Lafkas will change the name of the
store to Candyland. New fixtures and
booths are being installed.

Marine City— Zimmerman Bros.
have merged their hardware business
into a stock-company under the same
style, with an authorized capital stock
of $30,000, all of. which has been sub-
scribed and paid in in property.

Detroit—The Naumann—Routt Co.
has been incorporated to conduct a
general merchandise brokerage busi-
ness, with an authorized capital stock
of $20,000, $10,210 of which has been
subscribed and $2,000 paid in in cash.

Detroit—The Cadillac Glass Co. has
been incorporated to deal at whole-
sale and retail in sheet, plate, window
glass, etc., with an authorized capital
stock of $50,000, all of which has been
subscribed and $35,000 paid in in cash,

Kent City—S. I. Briggs, for the
past twenty-five years engaged in the
hardware business here, has sold his
store building and stock to Andrew
Carlson and Arthur Trofast, who will
continue the business under the style
of Carlson & Trofast.

Vicksburg — Franklin & Rayner

thirty .

have merged their dry goods, etc.,
business into a stock company under
the style of the Franklin-Rayner Co.,
with an authorized capital stock of
$12,000, all of which has been sub-
scribed and paid in in property.

Jackson—M. & F. Lincoln have
merged their grocery, meat and dry
goods business into a stock company
under the style of the M. & F. Lincoln
Co., with an authorized capital stock
of $100,000, $50,000 of which has been
subscribed and paid in in property.

Port Huron—Henry T. Smith has
merged his laundry business into a
stock company under the style of the
Troy Laundry Co. with an authorized
capital stock of $75,000, $65,000 of
which has been subscribed and paid
in, $100 in cash and $64,900 in prop-
erty.

Saugatuck—Rudolph Zeitsch has
merged his automobile supplies and
garage business into a stock company
under the style of the Saugatuck Au-
to Co. with an authorized capital
stock of $25,000, $20,000 of which has
been subscribed and paid in in prop-
erty.

Detroit—The William A. Dohany
Estate has merged its drug business
into a stock company under the style
of the Dohany Drug Co. with an au-
thorized capital stock of $10,000, of
which amount $5,000 has been sub-
scribed and paid in, $200 in cash and
$4,800 in property.

Detroit—Rogers & Seeley, Inc., has
been organized to deal in plumbing
and heating supplies and conduct a
general plumbing and heating busi-
ness, with an authorized capital stock
of $5,000, of which amount $2,510 has
been subscribed, $640 paid in in cash
and $860 in property.

Lansing—Mayton J. Buck, prom-
inent business man and life-long resi-
dent of Lansing died at his home
here last Wednesday following a long
illness. Although he had been fail-
ing rapidly since last October, his
sudden collapse was unexpected. Mr.
Buck leaves a widow and two sons,
Daniel and Robert.

Eaton Rapids—An important busi-
ness change will take place in this
city March 29, when Gordon Zavitz,
of Detroit will take charge of the H.
L. Proper & Co. store in this city.
Glenn Begole, who has been manag-
ing the store for the past year, is
going to Birmingham, where he will
open a new branch store for H. L.
Proper & Co.

Grand Rapids—Joseph Brown &
Son have merged their wholesale and
retail waste materials, paper, rubber
and metal business into a stock com-
pany under the style of the Brown-
Graff Co., with an authorized capital
stock of $75,000, of which amount
$50,000 has been subscribed, $23,500
paid in in cash and $26,500 in prop-
erty. The company is erecting a
modern building which it will occupy
about May 5.

 

Manufacturing Matters.
Detroit—The General
Iron Works has increased its capital
stock from $15,000 to $30,000.
Detroit—The Detroit Brass Prod-
ucts Corporation has decreased its
capital stock from $10,000 to $1,000.
Detroit—The Economy Gage &

Machine &°

Manufacturing Co. has decreased its
capital stock from $100,000 to $40,000.

Lansing—The Briggs Co., builders’
supplies and materials, has increased
its capital stock from $150,000 to $400,-
000.

Galesburg—The Hodges Chain Co.
has been incorporated with an au-
thorized capital stock of $60,000, of
which amount $50,000 has been sub-
scribed and $6,000 paid in in cash.

Detroit—The Universal Beverage
Coporation has been incorporated
with an authorized capital stock ot
$30,000, of which amount $15,000 has
been subscribed and $3,150 paid in in
property.

Jackson—The Jackson Safety Ap-
pliance Manufacturing Co. has been
incorporated with an authorized cap-
ital stock of $10,000, all of which has
been subscribed, $2,500 paid in in cash
and $3,000 in property.

Detroit—The Great Lakes Fuel Co.
has merged its business into a stock
company under the same style, with
an authorized capital stock of $25,-
000, $13,000 of which has been sub-
scribed and paid in in property.

Detroit—The Peerless Products Co.
has been incorporated to manufacture
and sell metal washers, dies and other
mechanical devices, with an author-
ized capital stock of $30,000, $16,000
of which has been subscribed and $3,-
050 paid in in cash.

Napoleon—The Richardson Special-
ties Co. has been incorporated to do
a general manufacturing and mercan-
tile business in all kinds of chemicals,
with an authorized capital stock of
$25,000, all of which has been sub-
scribed and $2,500 paid in in cash.

Detroit—The Utilities Chemical Co.
has been incorporated to manufacture
and sell soaps, polishes, cleaning
preparations, etc., with an authorized
capital stock of $100,000, of which
amount $54,700 has been subscribed
and paid in, $3,700 in cash and $51,-
000 in property.

Detroit—R. -E. Brown, who _ for
directed the purchase
and utilization of lumber for the Fis-
her Body Corporation, announces
that he has formed the R. E. Brown
Lumber Co., with offices at 820 Book
building, Detroit, and will conduct a
wholesale lumber business.

Coopersville—The Charles R. Par-
ish Co. has been incorporated to
manufacture and deal in flour, feeds
and grain and conduct a general mill-
ing business, with an authorized cap-
ital stock of $30,000, $14,000 of which
has been subscribed and paid in, $5,-
000 in cash and $9,000 in property.

eleven years

Oe
The Federal Trade Commission has
announced that, after a fair trial, or-
ders have been issued to several firms
in the sponge trade to refrain from
increasing the weight of sponges by
soaking them in a solution of salt, ep-
som salts, glycerine, glucose or sugar
or any other substance, and to refrain
from selling in interstate commerce
any sponges the weight of which has
been increased by soaking them in any
of these substances.
te
It is very nice to sympathize with
the salesman who comes around with
a hard luck story, but remember that
sympathy of that sort will not sell the
goods you buy from him,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SLL tearm taoon

 

 

edad eee.

Semen

 

March 23, 1921

MICHIGAN

 

 

 

 
    
   

CERY» PRODUCE MARKET

  

 

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Essential Features of the Grocery
Staples.

Prices have got to the point that
the retail grocer and general merchant
can afford to revive his stocks and get
them into shape to take care of all
the demands made for grocery prod-
ucts.

The merchant now can buy what
he needs at fairly good prices, and in
some lines at pre-war figures. For
this reason there seems to be no rea-
son to hold back on bringing stocks
up to normal amounts, thus obviating
the necessity of allowing the trade to
go to a competitor’s store for certain
staple articles which their regular
grocery stores fail to have on hand.

No longer need a merchant handi-
cap himself by carrying too light
stocks. He can buy closely and care-
fully and thus get the right prices and
be able to take advantage of declines
as they come from week to week. It
is a good time to decide for one’s own
self what the prospects are for further
advances and probable declines.

For instance, it was suggested some
time back that sugar undoubtedly
would go up a few points to reach a
stable basis and another advance has
been announced this week. On the
other hand it is notable that the flour
trade is off normal, and for that rea-
son flour is lower this week. In fact,
flour holds pretty close to one level.

Pink and chum salmon continue to
sell well, showing the value to the re-
tailer of concerted National advertis-
ing by the producer or manufacturer.
Such a campaign is now on with Calif-
ornia raisins, and good results are ex-
pected to follow in increase of the
normal per capita consumption of the
sun dried food in the United States.

Canned fruits, such as berries, be-
gin to look up as the home canned
pack for 1920 nears its finish, and also
dried fruits are looking up strong.

Sugar—The future of the market
is a conundrum. New York refiners
are now selling granulated at 8@84c
and local jobbers have advanced their
selling price from 9.25 to 9.50c. If
the new Congress enacts the emerg-
ency tariff bill in its present form, a
duty of 60c per 100 Ibs. will automa-
tically advance the price of sugar in
the same proportion. If the Cuban
Commission holds it will be likely to
advance the price of raws another
lac. These two “ifs” will mean an
advance of about Ic in refined sugar
over present prices. Jobbers have
-aten the bread of bitterness so fre-
quently of late in their dealings in
sugar that they refuse to speculate
on the future and are buying only
enough to meet their ordinary re-
quirements for three or four weeks.
If any retailer has spare money on

hand and plenty of iron in his blood,
now is a good time for him to be a
sport and buy sugar enough -to last
him two months.
vances, he may
profit.

If the price ad-
make a handsome
lf it goes down, it is his own
money that is involved. No grocer
can afford to borrow money or im-
pair his credit by laying in a stock
of sugar on any other basis than that
stated.

Tea—There has been a fair demand
for tea during the week, although at
most business is only moderate. No
change in price has occurred, the mar-

ket is practically marking time
throughout the line. There is no pro-
nounced weakness in anything just

now, except perhaps in some grades
of Ceylon.

Coffee—The market has been very
weak and depressed during the week.
Prices are probably at least “ec per
pound lower on all grades of Rio and
Santos. The situation in Brazil is dull
and weak and this is the main cause
for the further here. Mild
coffees are also on the sliding board
in sympathy with Brazils and prices
on most grades of milds show a frac-
tional decline for the week.

Canned Fruits—Lack of a wide con-

slump

sumer outlet causes more or less stag-
nation all along the line.

Canned Vegetables The tomato
market never recovered from the ef-
fects of the slump which followed the
rapid advance earlier in the year.
Puree continues dull and neglected.
Peas are as active as ever in standard
and sub-standard grades with a better
call now for the larger sieves since
others are hard to get. The cheap
lots are very hard to find on spot or
in the country. It takes pressure to
sell futures and even then the demand
is slack. The range of prices so far
quoted by canners is considered too
high while the outlook the jobber
thinks warrants conservative opera-
tions. Southern Maine style standard
corn is variously held at 75@80c at
the factory according to the canner
and the quality. Few good standards
are to be had for less than 75c. There
is more buying of Southern than of
any other pack because it is the cheap-
est available. California 1921 aspara-
gus is not selling freely on contract.

Canned Fish—Maine Sardines are
easy and in very limited demand on
spot. Navy goods still depress the
market and at interior points jobbers
are not entirely out of their old goods
and are buying only as they need
them. California sardines are in nom-
inal demand while imported are not as
active as a few weeks ago. Salmon is
dull, Pinks are weak on spot from
$1.10 up and Red Alaska is mostly
neglected except for actual consuming
requirements. The other kinds are

TRADESMAN

not wanted at the moment. Tuna fish
is subject to no improvement.

Dried Fruits—Prunes still rule at
low prices, with both California and
Oregon offered more freely than the
trade channels can absorb. The con-
signed Oregon cars have lowered
prices to the point where buyers are
taking hold more freely. The associa-
tion has withdrawn its offerings. Cal-
ifornia prunes are easy and while they
are moving to better advantage in the
retail field the jobbing movement is
indifferent. Apricots and peaches are
both in better demand by the grocer,
but the jobber is selling his own stocks
and is not supporting the market.
Raisins show a firmer tone. Package
goods are in light supply and holders
are inclined to press the market for
all it is worth. Loose types move
steadily. Dried black grapes and
cherries are taken for beverage mak-
ing. Currants are gaining in strength
and are held with more confidence.

Molasses—In a jobbing way trade
in the grocery grades is fair but buy-
ers are not anticipating wants much
ahead. Prices are maintained.

Sugar Syrups—There has been no
improvement in the situation and none
is in prospect so long as export de-
mand is withheld.
ally unchanged.

Cheese—The market is steady and
unchanged. The demand for cheese
at the present time is rather light and
the supply adequate. The receipts of
fresh-made goods are rather light and
the quality about the average for this
time of year.

Nuts—Brazil nuts are in increased
supply and prices have reached the
point where buying is on a more lib-
eral scale. A large crop is in sight
which indicates conservative prices.
Walnuts are both firm and high, with
offerings of domestic and foreign be-
low trade requirements. Almonds are
quiet and in only routine demand.
The nut market as a whole last week
was not buoyant nor active, but tame
as to demand.

Salt Fish—The demand for macker-
el is poor, not only from first hands,
but consuming demand as well. Retail -
little demand for
mackerel, but not a great deal.
remain about unchanged.

Prices are nomin-

ers report some
Prices

General Conditions in Wheat and
Flour.

The past week has been one of
price recessions. Wheat declined from
5@10c per bushel, depending upon
grades and date of delivery.

The decline has occasioned no sur-
prise whatever and while it is out of
the question for any of us to tell ex-
actly what prices are going to do
within the next ninety days, the gen-
eral opinion seems to be that wheat
will be selling for less money when
the new crop comes onto the market
than it is to-day, provided, of course,
nothing happens to the growing crop
and the acreage of spring wheat seed-
ing is as large as usual.

The present condition of the winter
wheat crop indicates a crop of
around 685,000,000 bushels, based on
private reports and estimates. Last
year’s crop totalled approximately
535,000,000, so the prospects are for
approximately 150,000,000 bushels
more winter wheat this year than
last.

5

As a matter of fact, however, we
need to produce between 900,000,000
and 1,000,000,000 bushels of wheat to
assure us of a reasonable surplus the
coming year, tor while the last Gov-
ernment report showed farm reserves
to be approximately 207,000,000 bush-
els—the largest farm reserves in the
history of the country, with the ex-
ception of 1916—stocks of flour in the
dealers’ hands are lighter than usual,
very much lighter; in fact, there has
been no buying of flour in any volume
crop;
everyone has permitted stocks to run
down to the lowest possible point.

by domestic traders on this

There are two factors which might
cause some reaction in the price of
wheat and flour to a higher basis; one
of them is, damage to our growing
flour
buying by foreigners on a large scale,

crop; the other is renewal of

as well as the domestic trade.

I have spent four or five weeks in
New England and a couple of weeks
in the Southern States during the last
two months and find the sentiment
among flour buyers to be about the
same in all sections. If the market
advances somewhat, the flour buyer
will come back with the statement,
“Well, if it goes up, we will follow it,
but shall not buy in large volume on
this crop, but next fall, we expect to
get back to a normal flour business
and shall purchase in carlot quantities
again.”

Nearly all of the
same thing, so it is apparent it is go-

trade said the

ing to be very difficult to stimulate
active domestic buying before the 1921
crop of wheat comes onto the mar-
ket.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see
wheat sell as low as $1.25 per bushel
in July; neither would we be surprised
to see the price advance to $1.50 by
the first of October, as we have no
surplus of wheat or flour either in
this country or as a world-wide propo-
sition. Another thing, conditions are
improving, and while we may not ex-
pect the kind of prosperity enjoyed
during the past two years, it seems
reasonable to expect good times will
be with us again by midsummer or
early fall. Money is easing in Eu-
rope, the principal markets are stead-
ier, collections better, failures fewer
and the volume of trade seems to be
increasing; in fact, freight car loadings
the past week have been the greatest
of the year. Business is, of course,
still spotty, but the trend is toward
recovery. There is a larger amount
of building and the automobile busi-
ness is, also, showing improvement;
besides these conditions, a large
amount of good roads work will be
done, and it begins to appear there
is going to be something to do for
everyone who desires to do it. Fur-
thermore, dealers’ stocks are decreas-
ing; in fact, are getting to the point,
and in many cases have already reach-
ed it, where replenishment has been
absolutely necessary.

There is not so much pessimism
among business men in general; on the
other hand, optimism is increasing.

We can see no reason for buying
flour or wheat in advance of two or
three weeks’ requirements at the out-
side. We still believe in purchasing
in a moderate way to cover immediate
needs. Lloyd E. Smith.

 

  

Aeon eae sRReL eT eas a wy RD. lS STE One

meena ca mares

6
MERCHANISINDG PROBLEMS.

Successful Meeting of Dry Goods
Trade at Detroit.

The Michigan Retail Dry Goods
Association held one of its most suc-
cessful conventions at Detroit Wed-
nesday and Thursday of last’ week.
From the time that John A. Brown,
President of the Retail Merchants’
Bureau of Detroit, called the meeting
to order until the last strains of “Old
Lang Syne,” led by Hall Geer; of St.
Paul, were heard in the banquet hall
on Thursday evening, every meeting
of the convention was filled with most
interesting and instructive talks and
discussions.

President J. W. Knapp, of Lansing,
struck the keynote of the convention
when he said, “The claim of manufac-
turers that it is the reluctance of the
retailers to take losses that is respon-
sible for high prices is a bald mis-
statement. Manufacturers and retail-
ers should stop jawing each other and
work together to ameliorate condi-
tions which, if unheeded and uncor-
rected, will inevitably produce wide-
spread misunderstanding and perhaps
long-continued distress.”

A complete resumption of public
buying was cited by Mr. Knapp as the
factor on which a return to normalcy
depended.

Adoption of State Income Tax by
Michigan was urged by O. F. Barnes,
President of the State Tax Commis-
sion. Mr. Barnes spoke of the enor-
mous income to be derived from this
kind of a tax.

J. B. Mills, of the J]. L. Hudson Co.,
spoke on retail advertising during
1921.

Frederick Stockwell, of Edson,
Moore & Co., speaking on the view-
point of the wholesaler, said that no
further decrease in the price on tex-
tiles is possible until there is a decided
drop in labor and manufacturing
costs.

Alvin E. Dodd, manager of the Do-
mestic Distribution Department of the
United States Chamber of Commerce,
told of the necessity of greater co-
operation between the Nation’s mer-
chants, and he urged the retailers to
take the public into their confidence
regarding merchandise distributing
costs.

Wednesday evening the wholesale
dry goods houses of Detroit enter-
tained the delegates at dinner at the
3oard of Commerce. The dinner was
followed by an experience meeting
and smoker. This meeting was pre-
sided over by W. P. Emery, of Crow-
ley, Milner & Co.

Wednesday, H. S. Shelton, of the
Johnson-Shelton Co., Dayton, Ohio,
discussed the pattern situation. Ed-
mund D. Fisher, former Vice-Presi-
dent of the Bank of Detroit, made a
talk on the financial status of the re-
tail merchants, and was followed by
W. S. de Trenholm, of New York
City, who told of the activities of the
Stores Mutual Protective Association
in New York.

Among the distinguished speakers
heard at the afternoon session were
Percy 5S. Straus, of the KR. H, Macy
fo. New York: Mrs. Lucinda W.
Prince, Prince School of Salesman-
ship, Boston, Mass., and Hall Geer,

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

Secretary of the Retail Merchants’
Association, of St. Paul, Minn.

Rev. Dr. M. S. Rice, pastor, North
Woodward avenue M. E. church, was
the toastmaster ot the banquet held
in the auditorium of the Board of
Commerce, Wednesday evening. All
of the delegates in attendance were
present, and in addition about 100 De-
troit merchants were also there. Hugh
Satterlee, of New York, spoke on
taxes of the future, and James V.
Barry Metropolitan Life Insurance
Co., former State Commissioner of
Insurance of Michigan, gave a most
interesting and enjoyable address en-
titled, “Keep Smiling.”

The Committee on Resolutions pre-
sented the following report, which
was adopted:

Resolved—That we express our ap-
preciation to the local merchants, both
wholesale and retail, who so gracious-
ly performed the many things to make
our visit both pleasant and profitable.
We mention especially the dinner, the
music, the speakers and the many
other accomodations.

Resolved—That we commend to the
merchants of Michigan the idea of
buying as near home as possible, and
we note the great adtancement which
is evident among Detroit jobbers and
retailers. We note with satisfaction
the wonderful growth of the first city
of the State and we want to be con-
sidered a part of your future growth
and prosperity.

Resolved—That we commend the
activities of our kindred organization,
the State Clothiers organization, meet-
ing in convention at this time in this
city, and we appreciate their kind in-
vitation to inspect their displays at
the Hotel Statler.

Resolved—That we endorse the
work of the National Retail Dry
Goods Association in their efforts as
regards the many problems affecting
business at the present time. And
we urge serious consideration ‘of the
sales tax and the income tax as pro-
posed. We endorse the work of the
officials of our organization during the
past year and we especially commend
the activities of our manager. We en-
dorse and urge the continuance of our
very successful group meetings.

 

 

Resolved—That we endorse the ef-
forts of all organizations of the State
and Nation looking toward the pro-
motion of honest advertising and we
urge every member of this Association
to use every means in his power to
raise the standards of advertising in
our State.

Resolved—That we are heartily in
favor of the proposed reforms as ap-
plying to the pattern industry in its
relation to the retail dry goods busi-
ness; that we are in favor of a simpler
and a more uniform contract; the
elimination of all mail order advertis-
ing from all pattern publications, and
we urge that all our members fully co-
operate in every way with officers of
our Association and the pattern com-
mittee of the National Retail Dry
Goods Association to accomplish
these results.

Resolved—That .we protest against
the enactment of the Stevens-Ash-
hurst or any other bill which has for
its object the attempt to control re-
tail prices by advertisers of Nationally
known merchandise.

Resolved—That we recommend the
establishing of a State Credit Associa-
tion to be in general charge of our
manager, Mr. Hammond, which will
necessitate eventually city and country
wide credit organizations and mutual
exchange of credit information.

Resolved—That we urge our mem-
bers to take advantage of the services
of our Mutual Fire Insurance Com-
pany and that we commend to the at-
tention of our members the Michigan
Mutual Casualty Company for neces-
sary casualty insurance.

Resolved—That we coinmend to the
attention of our officers the idea of
establishing in Michigan a graduate
of the Prince School, whose duties
would be to devote his time to work
among any Michigan stores willing to
undertake part time expense.

Resolved—That we call the atten-
tion of our State and National legis-
lators of our approval of all attempts
to remove grade railroad crossings.

Resolved—That we oppose the at-
tempt being made at present to re-
establish the death penalty in this
State.

Resolved—That we urge all mem-
bers to advance the interests of this
organization, believing that the pros-
perity of the retailer is a correct bar-
ometer of the prosperity of each com-
munity and that the growth of the
smaller cities and towns is a tremend-
ous and necessary factor in present
day civilization.

Resolved—That we call the atten-
tion of our members to the necessity
to greater diligence in the suppression
of shop lifting and kind-ed offenses,
and we urge that steps be taken to
organize a research department, in or-
der that we may secure the best meth-
ods of detecting and eliminating these
evils.

Resolved—That we, as members of
this organiaztion express our apprecia-
tion of the addresses of the many
speakers who have been in attendance
at this convention and that we endorse
the words of one who said, “This is
the most successful convention that
has been held by the Michigan Re-
tail Dry Goods Association.”

Nearly all the papers presented at
the convention will be found in this
and last week’s edition of the Trades-
man.

++
Local Postmasters May Settle Claims.

Retailers in the larger cities having
claims against the Post Office De-
partment for the loss or damage of
insured parcel post packages need no
longer submit such claims to Wash-
ington but may file them with their
local postmasters, under orders which
have just been issued by the Post-
master General.

The Post Office Department has or-
dered that hereafter postmasters at
offices of the first and second class,
which include all of the larger cities,
may accept, pass upon and pay in-
demnity claims arising from the loss,
rifling and injury of insured parcels.

For several years complaint has
been general that settlement of claims
by the Post Office Department was a
slow and uncertain process, taking
anywhere up to six months or more.
The practice heretofore has been for
the Department, upon receiving a
claim, to write to the postmasters at

March 23, 1921

both the office of mailing and of des-
tination, asking for facts regarding the
parcel in question, and frequently in-
spectors were detailed to make a more
complete investigation. All this took
considerable time, and as the claims
are received in large numbers they
piled up and settlement was consider-
ably delayed.

The new procedure is expected to
shorten materially the time taken to
adjust such claims and is intended to
do away with the complaints that have
been coming in to Washington in
large numbers.

—___»-<-_____
Wrapping His Own Bread.

One wide awake grocer, realizing
that his bread sales could be made to
advertise othem lines and become a
source of effective advertising for his
store, arranged with his baker to sup-
ply him daily with a definite amount
of bread unwrapped. He then in-
stalled an electric sealer and secured
a supply of parawax wrappers upon
which appeared his own advertise-
ment and wrapped the bread himself.
He kept on hand a supply of small
slips upon which was printed some
advertisement boosting his store and
its goods. As each loaf of bread was
wrapped one of these slips was wrap-
ped with it. The advertisement ap-
pearing on these slips was changed
frequently and proved a very effec-
tive medium for advertising various
lines. Any grocer who handles bread
will find this idea a real trade-getter
if handled in the right manner.

-_——__2 ~~
Petoskey Permeated With Pep and
Push.

Petoskey, March 22—Petoskey citi-
zenship is pretty thoroughly saturat-
ed with the knowledge of the city’s
needs for a new water supply. The
present supply is derived from wells
sunk about thirty years ago and have
been outgrown. Plans for an ample
new supply of pure soft water have
been proposed and bond issue to cover
cost of installation will be voted upon
April 4. Every woman’s club in Pe
toskey is taking an active interest in
acquainting voters with the necessity
ot approving the bond issue.

On Wednesday evening, March 30,
the Petoskey Chamber of Commerce
will banquet the 300 members of the
Federation of Women’s Clubs. This
occasion will mark the formal alliance
of these civic organizations in a pro-
gram of constructive community ser-
vice.

President Rice’s regime as the head
of the local Chamber starts out with
pep, push and progress that promises
quick and lasting results. :

J. Frank Quinn.
———_. 22

A personal liability act requiring
property owners whose carelessness is
responsible for fire to reimburse the
city and neighboring property owners
of extinguishment and the damage
done, will be enacted by the Iowa
Legislature if State Fire Marshal J. A.
Tracy has his way. “When a man
injures his neighbors’ or the city’s
property in any other way he must
stand the penalty.” Mr. Tracy is
quoted as saying. ‘Why should it
not be the same when the injury is
by fire?”

——- <-<-<————_——

When a customer makes a com-
plaint, don’t hang the blame on some
fellow who isn’t there, and let it ap-
pear that you have at least one un-
reliable clerk. Adjust matters with-
out putting anyone in a wrong light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i
7

 

 

  

    
    
    
  
  
  
   
   
    
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RS ala AER ne

|
|

 

March 23, 1921

FRANK TALK ON EXPENSES.

Scale of

High?

The manager of the grocery de-
partment in a large department store
got careless once in the month of
July. All winter and spring he had
done a fine business and made a good
showing both as to sales and earnings.
As the summer approached he had
hints from other department men that
trade would fall off, but the grocery
business is one in which such changes
come about more gradually than in
other lines, so he did not note any
great reduction in sales.

Is Your Wages Too_

He also had the not uncommon
habit of thinking about his clerks and
their interests. He “hated” to turn
them off. Liked them personally.
Hesitated which to pick for the blue
envelope.

Finally he was deceived by the fluc-
tuations in trade, as all grocers are
apt to be deceived until confronted
by the hard, cold figures. So often
his department seemed to be busy, all
the help being needed to care for the
trade, that he permitted himself to
overlook some plain records of sales.

The result was such a jar as to be
truly appalling, for when the final
figures for the month were completed,
about August 10, he found his expens-
es had jumped from a normal of 18 to
23 per cent.

Considering that his calculations
were based on making 21 to 22 per
cent. gross—that he was relying on an
average spread of only 3 to 4 per cent.
between margin and expense—and
that already ten days of the next
month had elapsed the seriousness of
his position is apparent. Do what
he would—and he got busy without
further delay—he could not much
more than regain his lost ground be-
fore the end of the summer.

 

That was in a department store, a
place where all figures are kept ac-
curately and tabulated at stated in-
tervals; a place where there is no
sidestepping actual conditions. What
if it had happened in an ordinary gro-
cery store where the proprietor lived
in a fool’s paradise of vain imaginings,
“guessing” that everything was. all
right? What would have happened in
that case is what is happening daily
all over the country. The grocer
would have gone on, losing where he
thought he was gaining, until some-
thing jarred him into wakefulness or
the sheriff took possession.

There is less excuse for going
wrong on wages expense than on any
other, because it is the simplest of all
expenses to keep track of. Given the
basic knowledge of what it should be,
any man can guage what he can pay
on any given business. Once the
standard is ascertained and fixed, this
expense can be checked not only
monthly and weekly, but daily, at the
cost of a very few minutes’ time.

It is only necessary to take the sales
for any period, from a day to a year,
and divide the total into the wages
and expense account to ascertain the
percentage of that particular cost of
doing business. Moreover, being so
simple and readily checked, this sec-
tion of the expense account should be
loaded with its full burden—a little
more rather than a little less—because

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

such practice will be a constant urge
toward conservatism.

For example: A haberdasher in a
midwestern city with whom I talked
told me his total expense was 23 per
cent. I asked him how it was divided
and he said rent was 11 and wages 9
per cent.—‘“and that’s about all of it,”
he concluded. I asked him about heat
—‘furnished by the landlord;” about
lights—‘Oh, they don’t amount to
much; not $200 a year;” about tele-
phone—‘‘A mere trifle of $60 the year.”
He figured no salary for himself and
no interest on invested capital—‘Dis-
count more than offsets interest,” he
said. But I found that he figured the
discount and kept track of it as an
earning, while he took no account of
the interest charge.

He did little delivery and so didn’t
worry about it,’ but it cost much
more than he imagined. He made no
allowance for depreciation nor kept
any account of mark-downs.

That man was a canny Scot and he
had made good money for over thirty
years. But it was merely because he
had the instinct of a trader, got wide
margins, and had a little
watch.

place to
Had he been .put into a larger
sphere or into a business like that of
the grocer, with many clerks and a
multitude of small transactions, he
would have to change his methods or
he’d have gone broke.

And even if one sidesteps disaster,
where is the satisfaction in fooling
one’s self? How did that man figure
his wage expense was 9 per cent. when
he himself sold more than any two
clerks in his place and charged up no
salary for himself? At the lowest cal-
culation his wage expense was be-
tween 12 and 13 per cent. and his to-
tal was not less than 28 and probably
it was 30.

How easy it would have been for
him, with ample leisure in his small
business, to calculate daily what he
was paying for wages, including his
own.

We, who perhaps have no soft snap
of a business to run, must stop, look,
listen at all the crossings. So let us
ascertain what wage expense should
be in various lines. I begin with my
old friend, the department store, not
only because I know those figures are
accurate to the last decimal, but be-
cause, as I have emphasized all along,
department store expenses average
higher than those of single-line mer-
chants. Therefore such figures are
safe for us to steer by.

As an indication of the soundness
of this reasoning, take the drug busi-
ness. In 1913 an investigation of up-
ward of 1,500 stores, made by System,
Chicago, showed that expenses in the
drug business were about 24% per
cent. on the average. The drug de-
partment expense in the department
store to which I have referred is, as
you recall, 25.41 per cent. The salaries
are 9.95 per cent. on sales. Those
salaries include every item of human
service — buying, receiving, selling,
management—directly connected with
the department. They do not include
the miscellaneous which, you may re-
member, cover such items of general
overhead for the entire store as por-
ters, carpenters, credit department,
general manager’s salary, proprietors’
drawing accounts, auditing, advertis-

ing, rest hospital, children’s
nursery, playing room, toys, welfare.
When such things are added, we have
a far higher salary cost than the vir-
tually 10 per cent. indicated. But the
single line merchant haé virtually none
of those items to carry and the stated
expense of 25.41 with salaries or wages
of 9.95 per cent. furnish fair guide-
posts for his business.

room,

Herein, you will notice, is another
indication how the department store
operates under a heavier burden than
the single line merchant.
of miscellaneous

This item
expense furnishes
another striking illustration of how
sound management can
heavy handicaps.

overcome

In domestics the wages expense is
7.21 per cent., in dress goods, 8.94 per
eent.: in 12.67 per cent., in
millinery, 13.44 per cent.; in shoes,
10.71 per cent., and in ready-to-wear
dresses, 7.84 per cent.

china,

You will recall the fine showing
made in rugs, carpets, etc., in 1919, as
compared with 1918, and how the local
building boom speeded turnover just
about to double volume the second
year. Wages expense reflects this im-
provement remarkably, for it stood at
11.12 in 1918 and at only 7.17 in 1919.
This indicates how wages burden can
be reduced by the stimulation of sales,
and it hints at how additional profit
may be realized by the payment of
bonuses, plus advertising, to increase
turnover with a given size of sales-
force.

About fifteen years ago, I learned
from a British merchant what wages
business.
The range then regarded as allowable
was 6% to 8 per cent. on sales.

should be in the grocery

I was
not only glad to have this informa-
tion, but knew it was reliable, be-
cause British grocers have long been
much more scientific than American
grocers. American merchants in lines
other than groceries have not been
much better than grocers, except the
department during the
last few To-day others—
notably hardwaremen, druggists, shoe-
men and dry goods men—have ad-
vanced much more rapidly than gro-
cers.

From, say, 1905 until the opening of
th war, grocery wages expense in-
creased its ratio gradually until 9 to
11 per cent. was not regarded as ex-
cessive. This was due to the exten-
sion of excessive service and needless
trimmings and frills on the service
rendered, brought about by the
strenuous efforts merchants made ap-
parently not so much to make money
as utterly to spoil the consumer.

stores, until
years.

During the war the pendulum of
service cost swung clear across the
arc. This was not only because of
war-time restrictions on service, but
because the rapid advance in values
operated to reduce the ratio of all ex-
penses. Thus full service grocery
stores of to-day have it largely within
their power to limit wages expense to
about the old ratio, or near to it—say

4 to 9 per cent.

It is true that the natural tendency
to-day is for the pendulum to swing
over again to the side of extreme and
extravagant service.

A large grocer in Madison, Wis.,
recently told me that things had gone

  

clear back to the old condition. “We

deliver anything, anywhere, at any
time—virtually,” he said. “Customers
are just as exacting or more so as they
were before the war.” That is an in-
stance of a city where the “intellecu-
als” talk very learnedly and logically
about the science of economics, but

decline to practice any real economies

in their individual demands on the

distributive scheme—a condition often
observable in centers of education.
2 . ‘ . -¢ 1,
But that a large proportion of the

gain achieved during the war can be
made permanent is shown by condi-

tions as they obtain in Omaha to-day.

There grocers make one delivery
daily. Hours of business are recog-
nized and closely observed, being
from 7 in the morning to 6 at night,

with an absolutely air-tight
Kansas City is the

same as regards hours of business and

Sunday

closing ordinance.
Sunday closing, but | am not informed
as to the delivery customs in Kansas
City.

Both of these cities are examples of
what can be accomplished by well
directed, intelligently guided co-opera-
tive effort, for in both cities there is
a well organized grocer’s association,
the officers of which devote them-
selves to tangible accomplishments

1

for the retailers’ benefit. In this case
of curtailed deliveries the associations

also operate along the lines of dis

tinctly valuable public service and
broad economics.
But while co-operate effort is to be

desired and is always more efficient
to put over generally beneficial ac-
complishments, each individual gro-
cer—or other merchant—can and
should study his own problems, de-
cide what he can afford to do by way
of service, and then curtail his ser-
vice within the limits he finds econ-
omical and reasonable. That is one
of the ways of keeping wages expense
within proper normal bounds.
Paul Findlay.
--
A Wife’s Confession.
In this period of feminine dissatis-
inder

which women live in this country, it

faction with the conditions
is cheering to get a note of happiness
from one woman who is doing exactly
what the best women of America are
doing. She does not appear in a prob-
lem novel or a newspaper interview
to accuse society or anybody else of
thwarting her chance for a “career.”
She just writes to a newspaper that
she is the mother of three children,
financially able to be free of the actual
physical care of her
household, and

children and
dwells in a happy
home.

She adds that authors
trying to cause her and other home-

Astounding!

makers to feel petty and frivolous
and commonplace, are wasting their
efforts. Ninety per cent. of them,
she thinks, would be glad to change
places with her! An adroit thrust,
that. She concludes with this sound
advice to the Sisters of Discontent:
“As long as our husbands remain sat-
isfied with us as wives and mothers,
we should be proud and satisfied.”
wields
greater and better influence than any
malcontent in the whole tribe of dis-
turbers and enemies of domestic life,

We dare say this woman

 

Rea T RARE oo

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

 

March 23, 1921

 

WATCHFUL WAITING.

The business which has been taken
in wide napped goods and the im-
proved current of orders in the print
cloth division of the gray goods mar-
ket have been of great encouragement
to a number of cotton goods men.
The movement has given them indica-
tion that support exists in some lines,
and it gives them hope that bit by bit
the various fabrics in the market may
likewise pull out of their dullness.
Those groups of customers who have
been most foresighted in liquidating
their old stocks have shown approval
of some of the prices recently named
by willingness to commit themselves
ahead on the new basis.

The effort to initiate a new season
in the .cotton underwear field during
the past week has met with scant suc-
cess. In distinction from many of the
textiles which have attracted fall
business, the underwear opening has
met with general resistance from
buyers. The prices as named appear
less than 50 per cent. above pre-war
prices, yet the attitude of the buyer
shows clearly that it will take a lower
price or a keener need to bring him
out into the open. The 11-pound two-
piece cotton ribbed garment may be
bought for the coming fall at $5 per
dozen. Such goods sold in the neigh-
borhood of $3.50 before 1914, and the
new price is about 43 per cent. above
that. The line formerly retailed at
50c per garment and all the new basis
would mean a 75c retail figure.

Despite the fact that many jobbers
were on hand for the underwear open-
ing, in New York, they have done
little, and it is the opinion among
them that little will be done for thirty
to sixty days. Manufacturers are
pointing out the reduced production
which will result if they withhold
from turning out heavy weight gar-
ments for a month or two longer, but
the jobber is not to be moved from
his course by any talk of scarcity, be-
cause he is convinced that consumer
buying in turn will be scant unless
price can be reduced still further.

The success of the wool goods mar-
ket in acquiring fall orders is now an
Allotments on such lines
as were oversold, especially in dress

old story.

goods, have considerably reduced the
quantity which each buyer sought,
and to that extent the action has been
a desirable check on speculation. Evi-
dences are accumulating that the
starting up of mills which have been
closed down is a slow process, and
it is still too early to say whether in
individual cases actual production will
come up to the volume expected.
The raw silk market, which is the
only pegged market at present in the
textile field, has been showing un-
easiness over the outcome of the loan
which was being negotiated between
the Japanese syndicate and_ the
Japanese government. Word has
been current in the market that some
selling has been going on in Yoko-
hama independent of the syndicate’s
minimum prices. So far as importers
here can judge from the scant infor-
mation at hand, action must be taken
in the near future on the Japanese end
if the influence of the syitdicate is to
be maintained. The market here for
broad silks has lately shown evidenc-
es of tiring, and, unquestionably, buy-

ers, both of the raw material and of
the finished fabric, want to know
whether they are to continue to deal
with a pegged market or whether it
may become a competitive one.

The announcement of a carpet auc-
tion to be held by the Alexander
Smith & Sons Company, beginning on
April 4, bears out the trade’s expecta-
tions along this line. The quantity
which will be offered, 70,000 bales of
rugs and 5,000 rolls of carpetings, is
larger than that offered at some of
the more recent of the auctions by
this company, but it is not so large
as some of the quantities placed on the
market by this means in 1917 and the
earlier years. The sale will, as usual,
clear the atmosphere by giving buyers
a chance to place their own values on
the merchandise. The fall opening,
which will come after the sale, will
probably be guided in part by the auc-
tion’s results.

 

DECLINE IN MENTHOL.

The past year has witnessed a fall
in the price of menthol which is al-
most unprecedented in the history of
the market for this commodity. The
price of the commodity has within a
year fallen from $13 per pound to the
present level of $4.40 per pound, and
there are factors in the market who
believe that the end of the movement
has not yet arrived and that the pres-
ent steadiness of the market is due
entirely to temporary conditions and
not to any fundamental firmness in
the statistical position or to any ele-
ment of strength in the general mar-
ket situation for products of the class.

It is a fact that there is at best a
more or less narrow and limited mar-
ket for menthol, its uses being com-
paratively few and its manufacturing
consumers not very widely scattered.
It has, however, always been one of
the most speculative items in the list
of drug products and has gained a
reputation as a breaker of reputations
for shrewd and careful trading. The
present position of the market well
bears out this reputation.

 

A manufacturer sending out de-
fective goods and later replacing them
can be charged for the expense of
handling the defective goods during
inspection. The general rule is that
the seller is responsible for all costs
in connection with making the re-
placement. This includes the cost
cause of a breach of wa. ?0eccm
of handling the defective material at
the buyer’s plant. If the buyer had
elected to reject the material because
of a breach of warranty and to sue
for damages because of the breach,
he could rightfully have included in
his claim for damages the cost of
handling the material. Inder the
same general rule the seller should
be liable for the handling charges in
making replacement.

Love is the great disciplinarian, the
supreme harmonizer, the true peace-
maker. It is the great balm for all
that blights happiness or breeds dis-
content, a sovereign panacea for
malice, revenge, and all brutish pas-
sions and propensities. As cruelty
melts before kindness, so the evil
passions find their antidote in sweet
charity and loving sympathy.

LIBEL ON HUMANITY.

Both war profits and war wages
were paid from tax money. Thus they
had no economic justification, and
must stop when it becomes impossi-
ble to collect taxes on the war scale.
The employers were more to blame
for taking cost-plus contracts, where-
by they collected from the Govern-
ment out of war taxes the money
which made it possible to pay war
wages, than the workers for accept-
ing such wages. There was much
human nature shown on both sides,
and the time .is ripe for condoning
all but wrongful extortion of either
war wages or war profits. Certainly
employers should use the greatest
patience in explaining to wage earn-
ers the situations which they can un-
derstand better than the workers.

If there had been no tax money,
there would have been need to show
that to labor early in the war. There
were cases in several countries of
strikes resembling treachery to the
men behind the guns, and which were
pacified only by the advances of wag-
es which are now under correction
through the necessity of finding
wages in production. But the ad-
vanced wages did not increase pro-
duction, and the shortening of hours
made it necessary to employ more
men. Thus in the railway case it was
employ hundreds of
thousands more men and to pay high-
er wages to those working shorter
hours and receiving skilled-labor pay
for common work. That may seem
to the infamous Gompers and_ his
bond slave unionists “justice” to la-
bor, and humanity. It is injustice
to taxpayers, to investors, to all who
live on what labor produces, and thus
is a libel on humanity and a blemish
on trade unionism. Gompers missed
a point of strategy when he allowed
employers to range themselves on the
side of consumers of the products
which capital seeks to increase and
unions seek to reduce.

Take, for instance, the “greatest
enemy of labor,’ the Steel Corpora-
tion. Repeatedly it raised the wages
of its workers without once being
asked. Within a few days it has
started methods of working which
will cost it scores of millions. Wages
have increased 185 per cent. for the
corporation and almost as much for
near competitors, but production has
fallen 22 per cent. The result is that
steel is both cheap and scarce—an
economic contradiction. Lacking in-
crease of production corresponding
to increase of wages, there must be
reduction of costs through decrease
of wages. There is no other direction
in which economies can be found,
profits having already ceased for many
producers. In both the railway and
steel examples, if the men had in-
creased production with their wages
they might have retained their scale
of pay.

FAIR DEMAND FOR HOSIERY.

Conservative buying is still the prin-
cipal feature in the hosiery market,
but there is no longer any doubt that
the stabilization process which re-
ceived a strong impetus through the
recent Ipswich auction is well on the
way. The manufacturers are con-

necesstry to

 

vinced that business can be done at
a price, and the tendency is now to
modify figures so that buyers will be
attracted. Those mills which have
already announced modified quota-
tions are reported to be doing a con-
sistently brisk business.

The announcement of new prices by
the Durham Mills has resulted in
scores of orders. It is more than
likely that other important mills will
soon come out with modified price
schedules. It is reported that the
Ipswich Mills may make some an-
nouncement in the near future in this
connection that will prove of interest
to the trade.

Even with satisfactory prices, it is
not believed that orders will be un-
usually heavy. Buyers are operating
with care, and purchasing enough to
take care of their requirements. The
mills are therefore conducting their
own operations in accordance with
this demand. It is certain that the
stocks in the hands of retailers are
not heavy, but the latter are inclined
to look for bargains. This attitude
was plainly in evidence at the Ipswich
auction, although the prices which
goods brought were. not as low as had
been expected.

At the same time, the bids at the
auction gave manufacturers a pretty
good idea of the retailer’s conception
of prices and it is regarded as likely
that in the naming of new prices, this
will be borne strongly in mind.

 

DEMAND FOR SILK SLACKENS.

3usiness in the broad silk market
has been slowing down and, while
trade leaders do not profess to see
any cause for apprehension, it is evi-
dent that the market is not nearly as
buoyant as it was some weeks ago.
The demand for merchandise is such
as to give the impression that trans-
actions will be on a limited scale for
some little time.

According to reports in the market,
the demand for taffetas has fallen off
perceptibly. It seems that the calls
for this fabric were so great recently
that manufacturers began turning out
large quantities, not only to cover
their orders but also in anticipation
of a continued demand. Quite re-
cently the demand dropped and it was
found that there was a surplus of this
fabric in the market. The jobbers
showed a strong tendency to let up
in their operations immediately, with
a resultant decrease in prices.

At the same time there is strong
belief that taffetas will come back and
that late spring busines will be much
better. It was reported that buyers
are showing interest in the better class
of taffetas for the dress trade.

The recent developments in the
taffeta situation simply bear out the
contention of leading trade factors
that any attempt to carry operations
beyond immediate requirements will
result in disaster. The big demand for
taffetas deceived manufacturers and
they went too far, with the result that
a surplus of merchandise has suddenly
appeared on the market.

It is felt that the silk goods situa-
tion is such that the utmost caution
is desirable by all factors in the trade.
The process of readjustment has not
been completed and there are still
obstacles to be overcome.

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March 23, 1921

DOMESTIC DISTRIBUTION.

New Department Established By U.
S. Chamber of Commerce.*

Perhaps no other subject, in what
we call business, is of so great in-
terest to the average man or woman
to-day as what happens in the spread
in price between producer and con-
sumer. The recent period of high
prices has brought about an insistent
demand that the public be shown why
the cost of an article, generally speak-
ing, should be doubled or tripled be-
tween producer and consumer. And
there are very good reasons why this
situation is uppermost in the minds of
the average person.

The latest Government figures of
living cost in twenty cities show an in-
crease of 12 per cent. in December,
1920, over the cost of living in 1914.
Since June, 1920, which was about the
beginning of falling prices the decline
has been a little over 16 per cent. in
these same cities.

But the complaint does not stop
here. It is not merely that profits
seem too large, but the public sus-
pects that too many people are get-
ting them and it is eagerly trying to
arrive at an understanding of dis-
tribution; comparable at least to the
general understanding which the pub-
lic has of production.

This eager interest is reflected in
many ways, chiefly among which are
the various investigations which have
been and are being conducted in
Washington and the various proposals
of legislation, such as the bill offered
by Senator Capper, of Kansas, to con-
trol the grain exchanges and abolish
speculation in connection with them;
the coal and packers bill and other
similar legislation, both National and
State.

Leading magazines, which are par-
ticularly keen at sensing the public
interest, are giving special attention
to articles dealing with what goes on
behind the scenes in distribution,

Retailers have been entirely too
backward in telling the public how
they do their job but, the time has
come when the building of a better
understanding between retailer and
the public must be handled scientifi-
cally. The public can and should be
told the inside problems with which
the retailer is confronted in very much
the same way that many manufactur-
ing and public utility concerns have
done,

The public, as well as individuals,
are likely to prejudiced against that
which they know least about and it is
partly for the purpose of assisting in
bringing about a better understanding
of the processes and problems of dis-
tribution that the Chamber of Com-
merce of the United States recently
established a Department of Domestic
Distribution.

From the standpoint of this new de-
partment, merchandise has been “pro-
duced” when it leaves the factory,
ready to be shipped to the jobber, to
the retailer or to the consumer: in
other words, when the merchandise is
ready to go into a warehouse or
freight car or some other place in
which # will be kept until ready for
distribution.

We may consider, therefore, that
the costs of distribution are repre-
sented by the following items:

1. Storage, insurance, interest on
the money, transportation and other
charges between the time that. the
merchandise leaves the factory and
goes to the wholesaler or other mid-
dleman or to the retailer or direct to
the consumer.

2. Sales department of the manu-
facturer, including the cost of adver-
tising.

3. Profit and expense added by the
wholesaler, if there is one.

4. Profit and expense added by the
retailer.

One of the constant purposes of the
Department of Domestic Distribution
will be toward the reduction of these
expenses, wherever they are discover-

*Paper read at Detroit convention
Michigan Retail Dry Goods Association
by Alvin E. Dodd, of Washington, D. Cc.

 

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

ed to be unnecessary, by the sugges-
tion of common sense, practical meth-
ods. Of course, these problems will
be attacked in a manner not to con-
flict with or duplicate the work of
other organizations.

To this end the Department recent-
ly began gathering information as to
what steps are being taken by manu-
facturers, jobbers, wholesale and re-
tail merchants all over the country to
cut down their operating expenses.

More than thirty thousand letters of
enquiry were sent out asking certain
questions regarding present overhead
expenses and what they are doing to
reduce them.

Already a multitude of replies have
been received and in almost every
answer the merchant is reducing his
operating expense so that he can meet
the pressure of the public for lower
prices.

Most of the answers report. that
workmen are more efficient than they
were this time last year, when there
was plenty of work to be had. Some
firms have eliminated pay for over-
time, while others state that the
salaries of their officers have been
lowered from 25 to 50 per cent.

“We are weeding out the drones
and keeping our efficient men,” is a
typical answer to the question, “Are
you reducing the number of your em-
ployes?”

Some firms replied that they were
not reducing the wages of their old
employes, but that they were hiring
new men for less monev. Others said
they would not reduce wages until
the cost of living dropped appreciably.
“We are reducing the amount of our
bonuses by 50 per cent. and we are
cutting down our commisssions on
sales,” is quite a common reply.

One merchant explained the manner
in which he handled his wage problem
when the present business depression
set in in this way: ‘We called our
men together and laid our cards on
the table. We had nothing to with-
hold. We told them that we could
not continue to do business with the
present wage scale unless they became
more efficient. By increasing their ef-
ficiency they made it possible for us
to reduce our prices.”

Everywhere the replies indicate that
there is a tightening of credit, with-
out any general reduction of volume.
New accounts are being more closely
scrutinized and bills are recahing the
hands of collectors a little sooner
than when business was brisk.

One of the most serious National
problems in business of recent times
has been that of cancellation. A six
months’ study of this question by the
National Chamber showed conclusive-
ly that cancellation of contracts is one
of the contributory causes for the
present slump in business.

The influence of early repudiation
of orders, spread rapidly and because
of cancellations, plants were reduced
from overtime production schedule to
three days a week, and in some in-
stances to a complete shut-down.
Legal remedies have been of. little
avail, tor the ailment has shaken con-
fidence which mus be restored before
better times can be looked for.

Some of the first steps now being
taken by the Department of Domestic
Distribution to assist in bringing
about improved methods and price
savings are:

The establishment of an information
service to answer questions on do-
mestic distribution for Chamber of
Commerce members.

Analyzing methods of distribution
followed by all the important indus-
trial groups covered by the Depart-
ment, and contributing data as a
definite attempt at clarifying and mak-
ing more efficient our processes of
distribution.

Co-operating with trade associa-
tions in outlining educational cam-
paigns, disseminating a better knowl-
edge of the problems and economics
of distribution to the general public
and to those within the field of distri-
bution.

Analyzing the requirements of the
distribution field for facts and trade

statistics which could be reasonably
collected and given wide distribution.

The war experience showed busi
ness men as never before, that many
of the Governmental problems were
their own problems and that if right
solutions are to be found in taxation,
transportation, tariff, etc., the business
men must help, and they must help
not merely by expressing their opin-
ion, but by helping to gather facts
upon which wise judgments may
made.

In order that business may be able
to assist the Government in dealing
with National problems atfecting
business it has been decided to build
at Washington a work shop for
American business where facts may
be gathered and used in the study of
its National problems.

No more fitting memorial to the
part played by American business men
in the war could be erected than the
proposed National headquartes.

Where business men may coun-
sel with each other and with our Fed
eral authorities on those things where
co-operation is necessary to sound ac
tion.

2. Where a research bureau for
\merican business may be maintained
that will acquaint itself with the is
sues at stake and with industrial con
ditions prevalent over the world.

3. Where members of
and members of the executive depart-
ments of the Government and our own
business organizations may feel free
to acquire, without obligation, that in
formation which will clearly illustrat
the effect of proposed policies upon
the economic life of the country.

4. Where meetings in the interests
of a community or of a state or of a
trade may be held with access to
trained staffs or helpers, that will
make -definite the demands that we
have to submit and that will in credit
able surroundings enable us to pursue
our negotiations with the Government
for the things necessary for the well-
being of American business.

—_—__>+ >
One Straw Too Much.

American publishers have had good

be

Congress

cause to find fault with the Postoffice
Department for some time, and it was
hoped that with the change of admin
istration some of the worries with
which they have been burdened would
be eliminated. It seems, however, that
they are confronted with a new ob-
stacle, one that will not be accepted
without violent protest.

Will Hays, postmaster general, has
announced that he will appoint Court-
land Smith, president of the American
Press Association, as his first assist-
ant. On the face of it, this would
appear as favorable to those engaged
in the business of supplying the coun
try with its current reading matter.
But Mr. Smith is a brother-in-law of
Arthur Brisbane, and Brisbane, as is

9

well known, is not only chief editorial
writer of the Hearst string of news-
Hearst's

man in the promotion and consum-

papers, but is right-hand
mation of deals in which it is politic
for Hearst to hide his hand

Hearst has long sought to be the
Croesus of American publishers. He
has sought by every means to extend
his slimy propaganda to every nook
and cranny of the United States. He

1 his inherited wealth to buy

has use

magazines wherever he could gain a

He has

and branded them with his stamp of
1
1

footing. ought magazines

sensationalism. Brisbane has’ been

very useful in all these negotiations,
as witness the purchase of the Wash-
ington Times, which was investigated

by the Department of Justice during

tice
the war when it was learned that Bris-
bane had first acquired the propert
with the aid of money supplied b
German brewers. This property was

later turned over to Hearst

It requires only half an eye to see
what will happen if Hearst, through
Brisbane, can wield an influence over
the Postoffice Department

]
when it

publications will not. suffer
comes to mailing preferences. Hearst
will hold the whip hand,
lishers of other periodicals
icals which are reputable and a credit
to the intelligence of the people—will
be compelled to take what is left over.
It is small wonder that the news of

Mr. Havs’ proposed appointment of
\rthur

brought with it a storm of protest

Brisbane’s near relative has

The men who control the destinies of
\merican publishing enterprises have
been patient for a long time, but
will be remembered that the fina
was eventually laid upon the
camel's back
AO

\nyone who thinks liquidation of
commodities 1s completed is likely to
have a rude awakening. Anyone who
thinks liquidation of labor is possible

+

of prevention is going to be disil

lustoned. For some months to come
the buyers’ market conditions of to

: 1 nen i
day are to be expected. For some

are likely to be

Only

months to come there
more job seekers than jobs.
by increased production, only by get-
ting to a level that will bring healthy
goods,

and normal consumption of

will liquidation be promoted.
>.
The primary asset of any business

is its Organization.

 

If Time and Money

are important considerations to you in
your business and in keeping your ac-
counts, we have something of interest
for you.

The New Canton Credit Register
will do more toward removing the bur-
den of your account sales than any-
thing you have ever seen.

If you need a credit register that
will prove its worth in trouble—free
performance; increased satisfaction
and longer life and through our method
of selling be able to buy it at the
right price—write us at once.

 

THE THOMAS-PETER CO.
(Dept. C)
CANTON, OHIO

 

 

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10

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

March 23, 1921

 

 

 

 

 

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Michigan Retail Shoe Dealers’ Assocla-

ion.

President—J. E. Wilson, Detroit.

Vice-l’residents — Harry Woodworth,
Lansing; James H. Fox, Grand Rapids;
Charles Webber, Kalamazoo; A. E. Kel-
logg, Traverse City.

Secretary-Treasurer—C. J. Paige, Sag-
inaw.

 

Style Trend in Western Lines of
Men’s Shoes.

Western made lines of men’s shoes
are fully as “snappy” and “styleful”
as those created in the Eastern cen-
ters. There appears to be in the West,
as well as in the East, the idea that
now is the time to put more ginger
in men’s shoes. The belief is cur-
rent among retailers and manufac-
turers that men to-day are in a re-
ceptive mood to accept more style-
ful footwear. This tendency is strik-
ingly reflected in the more or less
general adoption of the modified
French toe last with a slight recede
effect, the bringing forward of wider
and rounder toes, accompanied by
modified or full Baltimore extension
edges both inside and outside, the in-
troduction of ball straps on vamps and
the use of colored silk for stitching or
“fitting” the uppers.

One leather which stands out head
and shoulders above all others is Tony
Red, boarded and smooth calf.
Boarded leathers are preferred to the
smooth finish. There is a general
tendency to the lighter shades. This
does not necessarily mean that yel-
low tans are going to be good, be-
cause such colors do not fit in at all
with style ideas at the present time.

Another shade which 1s destined to
be popular has been christened “hazel
brown.” It is a little lighter than nut
brown, but not quite as light as the
rather orange shade of brown. With
the coming ot lighter shades, there has
c-lso been a noticeable increase in the
demand for black shoes.

The word “brogue” has been used
and misused so very much during the
past year that in these days it really
does not mean anything in terms of

1oemaking. There have been so
many modifications of the brogue idea
that it is pretty hard to fasten on toa
thoroughly explanatory definition of
the term. For- general purposes of
identification, however, manufactur-
ers are using the term “brogue” in
‘onnection with nearly all of their
wing tip models, their ball strap and
saddle strap creations. The wing tip,
popular last fall, has lost the point at
the center, so that most wing tips on
shoes for fall have wings, but are
minus the center point. They are
really what might be termed straight
center wing tips.

Foxings are used in greater pro-
fusion and are more elaborate than
for some time. Many foxings will be
merely perforation effects or imitation
foxings, with the perforations run-

ning from the line of the vamp to the
top of the quarter. It is generally
agreed that perforating and pinking
will be used more on fall shoes than
in many years. Perforations range in
size from as large as a pea to as small
as a pin point.

Pinking is very freely used, especial-
ly on the edges of tips, and some
manufacturers have gone so far as to
pink the tops of the quarters on their
oxfords.

Brass eyelets have replaced the in-
visible eyelets and they fit in very
nicely with the current style idea.

Several manufacturers have perfor-
ated and pinked the tops of the
tongues of their fall oxfords to have
them harmonize with the perforations
at the tops of the quarters. Manufac-
turers in the Middle West generally
expect to sell considerably more ox-
fords for fall than they have for many
seasons past.

In high shoes there has been some
speculating with Blucher patterns.
Some lines are going out containing
as many as six and seven Bluchers,
all heavily perforated and with panel
effects on the quarters.

There will be a profusion of fancy
stitching, if makers have their way,
as evidenced by the variety of colors
in thread which has been used for
stitching, or fitting, the shoes. In
Tony red leathers the orange shade of
silk seems to be very popular. In
black shoes, one manufacturer specu-
lated considerably in gray silk stitch-
ing and is also using orange silk on
black.

There is decidedly noticeable trend
toward wider toes. Nearly all the new
lasts carry considerably wider toes
than for some time. The erstwhile
popular English, long - drawn - out
model with the narrow toe is con-
spicuous by its absence. Few shoes
are seen in any line which have toes
narrower at the end than a silver quar-
ter. Quite a few are as large as a
silver dollar.

The modified French last has “ar-
rived,” and it is expected to be a big
seller for fall,

There is a noticeable shortening of
vamps. This is very natural, for the
reason that toes are blunter than they
have been for several seasons. This
latter feature also hints at the custom
idea in shoemaking.

Edges are geneally square. The
only change noticeable is the return
of the modified or regular Baltimore
extension on the wider toe lasts. Ex-
tension edges are shown in greater
numbers than ever before.

Insert raw hide slips will also go
a long way towards adding beauty
and snap to young men’s trade. When
raw hide insoles are used, the shoe
does not carry heavier than a 8%

iron out-sole, as a rule, as manufac-
turers are not aiming to build shoes
than 15 iron.

Heels are generally one inch high,
or 8/8, although here and there a
10/8 model is seen. Rubber half
heels are immensely popular and are
expected to continue so. The newest
idea in heels, and one which is noted
frequently, is the flange heel. The
flange is particularly noticeable and
extends quite a bit forward from the
lower lift of the heel. One Western
manufacturer has succeeded in_ per-

fecting a flange rubber heel. This
really is a new idea and ought to go
well with the retail trade.

This is one season when salesmen
representing factories making men’s
shoes have something to work with
in the way of style. There has been

 

Shoe Store and Shoe Repair
Supplies
SCHWARTZBERG & GLASER
LEATHER CO.

57-59 Division Ave. S. Grand Rapids

 

 

success?

the contest.

of benefits.

GRAND RAPIDS

 
    

Are you doing your share in mak-

ing the Hirth-Krause Campaign a

Many dealers are already getting
results from the advertising that
they are using in connection with

Do your part and reap your share

Call or write for particulars on this
contest campaign.

Mirth.

Shoemakers for three Generations
“ee

Shoes

Tanners and Manufacturers of the
MORE MILEAGE SHOE

MICHIGAN

yt Ste nats EE RES PON: pa IONE lls

 

 

CONSIDER!

Comfort Shoes.

TURNOVER.

soon be on.

BRANDAU
SHOE CO.

Manufacturers
WOMEN’S SANDALS
JULIETS and OXFORDS

 

 

 

COMFORT SHOES

The “HOME-EASE” line of House Slippers and

Eleven STAPLE. Styles.

All Fast Selling TRADE BUILDERS.
HONESTLY MADE and priced RIGHT.
Constant IN-STOCK Service to help YOUR

The SPRING HOUSE SLIPPER RUSH will

ARE YOU PREPARED?
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DETROIT
1357 Sherman St.

Wholesalers
MEN’S DRESS & SER-
VICE SHOES

 

 

—

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seer

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nn...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 238, 1921

an extraordinary effort made by manu-
facturers and style designers to “gin-
ger up” the new lines of samples
which are now or will soon be going
out to the retail trade.

Significant perhaps of the general
idea that there is considerable men’s
business “lying around” is the fact
that salesmen are losing no time in
getting out on their territories, be-
lieving there is, as we believe, busi-
ness to be secured on shoes for im-
mediate delivery made over the new
lasts and carrying the new patterns.

The men’s business has been un-
usually dull for the past six months,
and this condition applies not only to
retail stores, but also to the factories.
The deterrent in either case has been
recognized as a question of price and
a wondering whether or not prices
had reached the bottom.

The mild weather during recent
weeks has demonstrated that the male
population has pretty well liquidated
on shoes; in fact, need new ones
pretty badly. Retailers are feeling the
pressure of this demand and conse-
quently there is a_ better feeling
among them with regard to placing
orders for immediate use and for fall.

Most retailers are aware that it will
take more time to make up novelties
and special styles to order and, there-
fore, should be willing to place orders
in advance, so as to be assured of the
proper styles for seasonable selling.

It is natural to suppose that re-
tailers will approve the idea of “doll-
ing up” shoes for men. We hope the
effort of the trade will meet with the
approval of men, and if it does, the
answer should be more pairs sold,

A comparison of wholesale prices
asked last fall and this year for a
representative medium grade line of
men’s shoes, shows a substantial de-
crease in keeping with the lower
leather market. The line under re-
view is made in three grades. The B
grade calf Bals, which sold last fall
at $9 to $10.50, was priced to the re-
tailers during January at approximate-
ly $7.50 per pair. This grade is now
represented in the tall samples at be-
tween $5 and $6.50. In other words
shoes that sold at $10.50 last fall can
now be bought for $7.50 a pair, while
shoes that sold for $9.50 and $10 are
to be had at approximately $5 to $6.50
per pair. These prices include wing
tips, new modified French toe lasts,
highly perforated models, flange heels,
and are made according to good shoe-
making specifications.

The way to stimulate men’s. shoe
business this season is to liven up the
present stocks with a few of the new
shoes which have been placed in the
lines for fall. Mixing the two to-
gether gives an opportunity of in-
fusing new life into business by the
power of attraction which the strik-
ingly new models will create. This
will be true more particularly of the
young man, who will immediately no-
tice the difference in the style of lasts,
upper patterns and the tendency to
the lighter shades of tan Russia stock.
—Shoe Retailer.

——__» ++
Perpetual Guide To Tombs Not Ap-
proved.

The one piece of writing which,
more than any other, lays bare the
soul of a man, is his will. In it are

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

to be found his spirit, his heart of
disposition, his affection, his charitable
interest; in fact, his very self, his in-
nermost thoughts and desires dis-
closed and filed as a public record that
he who runs may read.

Many wills, like their authors, are
commonplace and uninteresting, many
are unusual and noteworthy for the
generosity or niggardliness displayed
by their makers. At times they dis-
close a personal vanity often unsus-
pected in the life of the testator.

Such a will was that of Henry B.
Palethorp, of Philadelphia, who made
charitable bequests in large amount,
but who included in his final disposi-
tion a bequest of $150,000 in trust in
perpetuity for the care and mainten-
ance of the Palethorp family cemetery
lot, for the care, maintenance and re-
newal of any tombs and copings, “for
flowers to be placed and maintained
there, and for the support and main-
tenance of some proper person to at-
tend to the care and oversight of said
lot and show people where it is.”

Although the validity of bequests
in suitable amount for the care of
cemetery lots has been recognized by
statute in Pennsylvania, this bequest
was attacked because of the amount
of money that would be permanently
kept away from productive channels.
The court, in discussing the case,
said:

“Is this purpose lawful? If so, cen-
turies from now, when deeds of the
public benefactors of to-day shall
have been forgotten, ‘a proper person’
maintained under the direction of this
court may be ‘showing people’ the
lot wherein is interned the body of
this testator and of his father and
mother, or devoting his time to the
destruction of such tomb as then ex-
ists and the erection of another in
keeping with the period.

“The case is similar in great meas-
ure to that where a testator directed
the maintenance of a military band to
march to his grave on the anniversary
of his death and other holidays and
play funeral marches and other ap-
propriate music and where it was held
that the object of the testator was to
perpetuate the memory of his family
name in a manner which could confer
no public benefit or use. So certainly
would be this testator’s direction for
a perpetual barker.”

The court accordinly reduced the
amount of the bequest from $150,000
to $10,000.

————> ~~
We now have a composer of songs

in the pickle and condiment family,
one Chas. A. Peacock, secretary to
EK. Pritchard, of “Pride of the Farm
catsup fame, who resides in Greenwich
village, a section of New York City,
where actors and musicians congre-
gate, something like the Latin quar-
ter in Paris. The song is entitled,
“If You Love Me, Tickle My Big
Toe.” One -of the first. issues was
mailed to C. J. Sutphen, of Chicago.
A number of music publishing firms,
having heard Mr. Sutphen sing the
song, immediately wrote to the com-
poser for the right to arrange the
music for bands and orchestras. The
village of Greenwich has been in the
limelight so much lately it will please
our readers to learn that one of our
number has become famous.

11

 

Revised Price List of

HOWARD

Celoid Chrome Soled Boys’ Shoes

25 to 50% More Wear

GOODYEAR WELTS

Stock No. Description Size Price
8100 Boys’ Gun Metal English Bals. B-C-D-E 2144 to 6 $3.85
8101 Boys’ Dark Tan English Bals. B-C-D-E 2%, to 6 3.85
8102 Boys’ Gun Metal Nature Bals. B-C-D-E 214 to 6 3.85
8103 Boys’ Dark Tan Nature Bals. B-C-D-E 21%4to 6 3.85
8130 Youths’ Gun Metal English Bals. B-C-D-E 1214 to 2 3.60
8131 Youths’ Dark Tan English Bals. B-C-D-E 12%, to 2 3.60
8132 Youths’ Gun Metal Nature Bals. B-C-D-E 12%4to 2 i266
8133 Youths’ Dark Tan Nature Bals. .B-C-D-E 121%4 to 2 3.60
8150 Little Men’s Gun Metal English Bals. C-D-E 9 to 12 3.35
8151 Little Men’s Dark Tan English Bals. C-D-E 9 to12 3.35
8152 Little Men’s Gun Metal Nature Bals C-DE 9 t46 12 3.5
8153 Little Men’s Dark Tan Nature Bals. C-D-E 9 to 12 3.35

AMERICAN WELTS

8110 Boys’ Dark Tan Blucher __ 24 to 6 § .25
8140 Youths’ Dark Tan Blucher _. i i244 to 2 3.00
8100 Little Men’s Dark Tan Blucher GS tai2 235

A better investment than ever before.
More Style, Greater Economy.

More Wear,
Size up today.

 

RINDGE, KALMBACH, LOGIE CO.

GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN
Makers of Good Shoes Since 1864

 

 

 

Dealers in all parts of the country
find in

The Bertsch
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All the good features of both style
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Herold-Bertsch Shoe Co.

Manufacturers of Serviceable Footwear GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

 

 

a » TEE

 

 

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FEDERAL TAXATION. estimated that for the calendar year
1921 income and profits taxes will yield

 

Should Be Limited To Income and

Turnover Taxes.*
three fundamental requirements
ideal system of taxation are cer-
and simplicity. _
said that uncertain taxes

The
for an
tainty. equality

Adam Smith
han high taxes. John Stuart

were worse
Mill said:
“The subjects of every state ought to

contribute to the support of the govern-
ment, as nearly as possible in proportion
to their respective abilities: that is. in
proportion to the revenue which they
respectively enjoy under the protection
of the state. In the observation or neg-
lect of this maxim consists what is call-
ed the eauality or inequality of taxation.

Because I often disagree with eminent

living economists, I take some comfort
in the support of the more eminent de ad.

simplicity,
best

requirement of
furnishes the

As the third
your own experience
commentary.

In sharp contrast to the ideal
is the existing system of Federal taxa-
tion. lts chief characteristics are un-
certainty, inequality and complexity. As
a whole, it has few defenders and I shall
not waste time arguing that it should be
changed. The problem for discussion
and decision is rather how it should b
changed.

system

start let me emphasize that you,
the business men of the country, cannot
afford, through lack of time or lack of
confidence. to leave to others the solu-
tion of this problem. Taxes are too big
an item in your costs to be disregarded,
and they present no more abstruse ques-
tions than other factors in your business
which you are accustomed to study. I
myself used to be very diffident about
tax problems, but I have come to the
conclusion that my opinion is as good as
the next man’s and often better. In
short, if you want to see a sound solu-
tion of the problem of federal taxation

 

embodied in a statute, you must stand
over Congress and guide its writing
hand. .

“Trad and Commerce, if they were

not made of india-rubber would never
manage to bounce over the obstacles
which legislators are continually putting
fin their way; and, if one were to judge
these men wholly by the effects of their
actions and not partly by their inten-
tions, they would deserve to be classed
and punished with those mischievous per-
sons who put obstructions on the rail-
roads.”

That is true to-day, as it was many
vears ago when Thoreau wrote it.

We can conveniently approach our
rincipal problem through a short cate-
chism.

First. how much revenue does_ the

Government need? The answer to that
is, for the present. probably around $4.,-
000,000,000 annually. It largely depends
on the army and navy program, and

rigid economy, but we
taxes safely count on

everyone expects
cannot in figuring
much

Second, possibly can the .Govern-
ment raise the required revenue? Well,
the Constitution forbids the imposition

taxes on exports and so restricts the
nposition of direct taxes, except income
taxes, as to eliminate them from serious
consideration. That leaves the tariff
and, as a practical matter. four. classes
of possible internal taxes: (1) income
taxes; (2) inheritance taxes; (3) occura-
tion taxes; and (4) sales taxes. The last
three classes are included in the generic
term “excise taxes.”” So the Government
can resort to the tariff, income taxes and
excise taxes.

Third. how has the
raising its revenue‘

ess.

how

Government been
Until very recently,
of course, from the tariff and a few sales
taxes, chiefly those on whisky and to-
hacco. The income tax made its ap-
vearance in 1913, but it was not until the
War emergency that the present top-
eavy structure of taxation was erected.
The present income taxes comprise the
income tax and the excess profits tax
nd also the child labor tax. The exist-
ng form of inheritance taxation is the
estate The occupation taxes include
the capital stock tax and license or priv-
ilege taxes at flat rates on about thirty
different occupations and businesses. The
sales taxes include taxes on about seven-
ty-five different articles and things.

If existing taxes are not changed it is

    

*Paper read at meeting Michigan Re-
tail Dry Association by Hugh
Satterlee, of York.

‘ 1
(7000S

New

$2,300,000,000, the estate tax and the
capital stock tax will each yield about
$100.000,000, and sales taxes will yield
nearly $1,200,000,000. The aggregate es-
timate is accordingly $3,700,000,000, or
less by $1,700,000,000 than the $5,400,000,-
000 of internal collections for the fiscal
year 1920. This reduction is due to the
diminished productivity of the income
and profits taxes. The tariff might yield

$300,000,000 making $4,000,000,000  alto-
gether.
Fourth, how preferably can the Gov-

ernment raise the required revenue? This
is our real problem. You can see that it
is not a question of materially increasing
or decreasing the revenue, but of redis-
tribution of the burden by means of
taxes that shall be more certain, more
equal and more simple.

The tariff we may dispose of in a para-
graph. It is largely a political problem
outside the scope of this discussion, but
on whatever theory imposed it is strictly
limited in its productivity. Although ex-
travagant estimates have meen made, it
is safe to say that its maximum annual
yield for the present will not be far from

$500,000,000, So internal taxes must be
relied upon to produce between $3,500,-
000.000 and $4,000,000,000,

The first step in a program of redis-

tribution of internal taxation is to elim-
inate the taxes which are either unbear-
able or unproductive.

elt is universally conceded that the ex-
cess profits tax should go, and I need
not rehearse its uncertainty, inequality
and complexity. The capital stock tax
should also be abolished because it is ad-
ministratively unworkable and, there-
fore, uncertain and unequal, and it adds
an unnecessary complication to the tax
situation.

Aside from the capital stock tax, the
other occupation taxes, including license
taxes on brokers, amusements. proprie-
tors, automobile livery proprietors, ete.,
should -be repealed, because they do not
produce enough revenue to justify the
labor and expense of collecting them.
For the same and further reasons the
child labor tax, the enforcement of the
National prohibition act and the taxes
on sales of narcotics, oleomargarine,
adulterated and renovated butter, filled
cheese, mixed flour and white phosphorus
matches, should be out of the Internal
tevenue Bureau. The occupation taxes,

although trivial, were designed to pro-
duce revenue. The taxes last named

were never designed to produce revenue,
but only to prohibit or regulate certain
businesses. These regulatory taxes, if
not abolished, should be transferred to
another bureau (which might be called
the Bureau of Internal Regulation) be-
cause they impose harassing burdens on
the Internal Revenue Bureau and consti-
tute a very serious danger to the morale
of the entire revenue servic. To require
this great tax gathering agency to turn
aside from the collection -of billions to
thinly disguised police duty is theoret-
ically and practically ‘vicious.

For a somewhat different
cause of the sentiment that

reason, be-
inheritance

taxation should be left to the states, the

estate tax might also well be repealed.
The elimination of the excess profits
tax, the estate tax, the capital stock tax
and the trivial and regulatory taxes,
leaves only the income tax and the pro-
ductive sales taxes. Call these taxes
what you will—use if you please the
jargon of the economists and call them
taxes on wealth and taxes on consump-
tion—the indisputable fact remains that
for the collection of nearly all of our
required $4,000,000,000 we must rely on
taxation of incomes and taxation of sales.
The initial question, then, is how much
of the $4,000,000,000 should we raise from
the taxation of incomes and how much of

the $4,000,000,000 should we raise from
the taxation of sales.
It is my belief that we should main-

tain a fairly even balance between these
two classes of taxes. It seems to be gen-
erally recognized that recently we have
borne too heavily upon income taxation.
Suppose, therefore, we proceed to a con-
sideration of the income tax and the

sales taxes, having tentatively in mind
that each ciass should produce roughtly

$2,000,000,000 of revenue.

As already indicated, I have no doubt
that the income tax must and should
stay, it requires radical revision, primar-
ily in its rates and secondarily in other
features. 3ecause, on the one hand, of
the lack of incentive to engage in new
enterprises, whose profits would largely
go to the Goyernment, and, on the other

 

   

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Established 1853

 

When safety ceases ‘to be a consideration with
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ASK OUR BOND DEPARTMENT

      
  

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Monrce at Pearl Grand Rapids

Regularly Examined by United States Government Examiners

TONAL BANK

 

LLL LLL ddldddlddbddlldidldibill

Making Family Provision

A man has not made proper provision for
his family until he looks beyond his own life
and takes measures for the protection of those
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/FFRAND RAPios [RUST [\OMPANY

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

OTTAWA AT FOUNTAIN BOTH PHONES 4391

March 23, 1921

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March 23, 1921

hand, of the case of avoiding taxation
by investing in municipal and other tax-
exempt securities, the present high sur-
tax rates stifle enterprise and discrim-
inate against earned income. For these
reasons, aside from the doubtful justice
of taking away most of a man’s income
in taxation, the higher surtax rates cry
out for reduction. It is alternatively pro-
posed that the highest rate of tax should
be 20 per cent., or that the highest rate
of surtax on income saved and reinvest-
ed otherwise than in tax-exempt securi-
ties should be 20 per cent. The latter
proposal would introduce fresh compli-
cations of computation and proof, which
to my mind damn it. In effect it is an in-
direct method, so dear to the hearts of
politicians and others who dislike to tell
the people the truth, of arriving at sub-
Stantially the same result as the un-
conditional limitation of the surtaxes to
20 per cent.

The repeal of the excess profits tax
will necessitate some adjustment of the
income tax on corporations to equalize
so far as possible the income taxes on
enterprises conducted respectively by in-
dividuals or partnerships and by cor-
porations. If an individual in business
must pay surtaxes up to 20 per cent. or
higher, even on the portion of his in-
come reinvested in the business, it is
manifestly unfair that a corporation in
the same business should pay only the
normal tax on such portion of its income
as it is not distributed to stockholders
in whose hands it becomes subject to
surtax. One proposed remedy for this
condition is to increase the rate of in-
come tax on corporations to 16 per cent.
It is obvious that at best this provides
only an extremely rough method of
equalization.

A closer approximation of equalization
could be achieved by imposing a tax of
20 per cent., assuming that to be the
highest rate of surtax on individuals, on
such portion of the net income of a cor-
poration as is not distributed to stock-
holders, such income, of course, being
free from tax in the hands of stockhold-
ers upon any subsequent distribution. In
fact, I should personally like to see the
present income tax on corporations abol-
ished, and in lieu thereof a tax on un-
distributed income at the rate of 28 per
cent., assuming that to be the aggregate
of the normal and maximum surtax rates
on individuals. Although there are rath-
er terrifying theoretical objections to
such a tax, I doubt their practical force.

Consider that even though no dividends
be paid, a tax of 28 per cent. on the
total net income would usually be less
than the income and profits tax for 1918
or even 1919; that if half the net income
were distributed, the tax would be only
14 per cent. of the total net income; and
that if three-fourths of the net income
were distributed the tax would be equal
to only 7 per cent. of the net .income.
The taxed income being free from tax to
the stockholders when eventually dis-
tributed, the net difference in taxation
between individuals and_ corporations
would be the difference between the 28
per cent. tax which the _ corporation
would pay and the aggregate of the nor-
mal and surtaxes which the stockhold-
ers would have paid if the income had
been initially distributed to them. In
other words, in the case of stockholders
all of whom paid a 20 per cent. surtax,
the difference would be reduced to noth-
ing.

This comparatively slight inequality
does not bulk very large when the dis-
crimination against corporations under
the present system is remembered. For,
as it is, a corporation may be taxed 82.4
per cent. of its net income, and then a
stockholder may be taxed at the rate of
65 per cent. of his portion of the 17.6 per
cent. of the remaining net income of the
corporation distributed to him in divi-
dends. Moreover, with the abolition of
the capital stock tax, this differential
against the corporation and in favor of
an individual could properly be regarded
as the price the corporation paid for the
privilege of doing business as a corpora-
tion, which is the theory, of course, of
the capital stock tax.

Other changes in the income tax, while
important, can scarcely be discussed
within the limits of this paper. For ex-
ample, the extension of the provisions
for net losses of any year so as to allow
such losses to be deductible from the
net income of succeeding and preceding
years is thoroughly desirable and in line
with the English practice of imposing
income taxes on the average income for
three or five years, but without the com-
plications resulting from such a practice.
Income from the sale of capital assets,
and from compensation for services ex-
tending over several years, should be
taxed so far as possible at the equivalent
of what the tax would be if the income
had been spread over the period in ques-
tion. But, above all, the stabilization
of rates would avoid the present unfor-
tunate conflict between the Internal Revy-
enue- Bureau and taxpayers with respect
to the allocation of income and deduc-
tions to high and low rate years, and tax-
payers should be permitted and encour-
aged to adopt accounting systems which
would tend to equalize their income for
successive years.

The loss of revenue from the abolition
of the excess profits tax would be, per-
haps, $500,000,000, and from the reduction
of the higher rates of surtax on individ-
uals and from other changes in the in-
come tax in the interest of equality and
simplicity perhaps $200,000,000 more or
$700,000,000 in all. On the other hand,

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN . 13

the imposition of a tax at the rate of
20 per cent. on the undistributed earn-
ings of corporations would offset this
loss to the extent of about $400,000,000.
Taking our estimate of $2,300,000,000 for
the existing income and profits taxes, and
subtracting $700,000,000 and adding $400,-
000,000, we have approximately the $2,-
000,000,000 desired.

We now approach the fiercely fought
field of sales taxation. We have al-
ready, for the purpose of argument, as-
sumed that we wish to collect $2,000,000,-
000 or thereabouts from taxation of sales.
Our present problem is to discover that
method of taxing sales which, besides
yielding the required revenue, shall come
closest to embodying our trinity of cer-
tainty, equality and simplicity.

Sales may be taxed in a bewildering
variety of ways. Sales of specified com-
modities may be taxed at different rates
When made by the manufacturer, pro-
ducer or importer, or to a consumer or
user, or by anyone to anyone. Sales of
specified capital assets may be taxed at
different rates when made by anyone to
anyone. Sales of the use of specified
kinds of property may be taxed at dif-
ferent rates when made by the lessor, or
by a lessee, or by either the lessor or
lessee. Sales of choses in action may be
taxed at different rates when made by the
creator or issuer, or to a transferee, or
by either creation or transfer. Sales
of services may be taxed at different
rates when made of one’s own services,
or the services of another, or of both
one’s own and another’s services. In all
the above cases the tax may be imposed
on the vendor or on the vendee, and may
be required to be paid by assessment or
by affixing stamps. Practically all of the
varieties of sales taxes I have enumerat-
ed are exemplified in existing sales taxes
administered by the Internal Revenue
Bureau.

To avoid hopeless confusion, however.
the principal forms of sales taxation
Which are now advocated may be tabu-
lated somewhat as follows:

i Specific sales taxes, meaning taxes
on the sale of specified articles by or to
specified persons;

2. A manufacturers’ tax, meaning a
tax on all sales by the manufacturer,
producer or importer:

3. A retail tax, meaning a tax on all
sales to the consumer or user; and

1. A turnover tax, meaning a tax on
all sales by anyone to anyone.

Forms 2 and 3, manufacturers’ and re-
tail taxes, I shall not attempt to discuss
separately, because they contain most of
the disadvantages and very few of the
advantages of the specifie sales taxes and
the turnover tax. Of the two the retail
tax is undoubtedly preferable. Form 4,
the turnover tax, may be limited to
goods, wares and merchandise, or ex-
tended to capital assets, choses in action
and services. For the sake of simplicity
and because once the principle is accept-
ed the details can readily be worked out,
I shall deal with the turnover tax
though imposed only on commodities.

In comparing specific sales taxes and
the turnover tax it should be borne in
mind that no tax approaches very near
to perfection. Taxes should be marked,
not as wholly good or wholly bad. but
according to their degree of merit or
demerit. Bearing this in mind, suppose
we consider specific sales taxes and the
turnover tax, first, from the standpoint
of the Government. second, from the
standpoint of the merchant, and, third,
from the standpoint of the consumer.

First, from the standpoint of the Gov

as

ernment, the yield is important. The
specific sales taxes have yielded nearly
$1,206,000 ,000, Their advocates propose

to retain most of the existing taxes. to
increase the rates of many of them, and
to impose further specific sales taxes on
additional articles. If this were done the
assumed yield from specific sales taxes
would be anywhere from $1,500.000,009
up. On the other hand, it is probable that
a turnover tax at 1 per cent. would yield

very close to $2,000,000,000. In faet the

objection has been raised that such a tax
might yield too much. If it did the rate
could very readily be reduced.

The administration of the specifie sales
taxes is extremely difficult. Their bases
are so varied that I doubt if even the
most experienced revenue agent could
offhand state the rate, the incidence and
the scope of most of such taxes. About
20 separate sets of regulations, each a
sizable pamphlet, have been issued by
the Internal Revenue Bureau to instruct
its agents and the public in the adminis-
tration of the specific sales taxes. In the
case of the taxes imposed on sales by the
manufacturer, producer or importer, it
is often practically impossible to decide
who is the manufacturer of a specified
article. In the case of~taxes on sales to
the consumer or user it is often equally
impossible to tell who is a consumer or
user. In every case embarrassing ques-
tions continually arise as to whether a
certain article is included in the scope of
one of these taxes. As certain sales of
certain articles are taxed, while other
sales of the same articles and all sales
of other articles are not taxed, it is easy
to imagine the job which a revenue agent
has on his hands in cheking over a mer-
chant’s sales tax returns.

On the other hand, the turnover tax.
being imposed at a single rate on every
sale of every article by every person,
would in comparison be simplicity itself
to administer. It seems reasonable to
Suppose that the present force of em-
ployes and agents of the Internal Reve-
nue Bureau, who are engaged in the

 

 

 

Good Intentions

Are good as far as they go.
enough

They never go far
Good acts must follow.

Unless reduced to writing, your intentions with
reference to gifts of property will not only be a
blank; but the law will intervene and distribute
your estate not at all in the way you would
have desired.

 

After adopting this Company as your choice for
permanent Trustee (an important point) you can
be abso.utely positive that your desires will be
carried out as written.

Nothing can be divulged. Your WILL can be
sealed up and deposited.
your mind.

Then dismiss it from

We are glad to confer on this or related subje ts.

Oldest Trust Company in Michigan.

THE

MICHIGAN [RUST

COMPAR Y
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRAND RAPIDS NATIONAL CITY BANK
CITY TRUST & SAVINGS BANK

ASSOCIATED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The convenient banks for out of town people. Located at the very center of the
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On account of our location—our large transit facilities—our safe deposit vaults
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Combined Capital and Surplus -.__._._._._._°_$ 1,724,300.00
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Combined Total Resources anno sm Fig VE FO

GRAND RAPIDS NATIONAL CITY BANK
CITY TRUST & SAVINGS BANK

ASSOCIATED

 

 

 

 

 

 

ee

14

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

  

March 23, 1921

 

collection of $12,200,000,000 of specific
sales taxes, could collect $2,000,000,000
through a simple turnover tax with com-
parative ease. In addition, the agents
and auditors now engaged in closing up
the profits tax returns for the last three
or four years will gradually be released
from that occupation. Imagine the dif-
ference between verifying a turnover tax
at 1 per cent. on gross sales and auditing
an excess profits tax return! It is prac-
tically certain that the imposition of
further specific sales taxes would em-
barrass the Internal Revenue Bureau
much more than the substitution for the
existing sales taxes of a turnover ta

From the standpoint of the Govern-
ment, therefore, I have no reasonable
doubt that a turnover tax woull yield
more revenue and could be administered
more easily and economically than the
present and proposed specific sales taxes.

Second, from the standpoint of mer-
chants, the features which make a turn-
over tax superior to specie sales taxes
for the purpose of return and payment.
for example, a department store may
make some of its candy and purchase
other candy for resale. On the sale of
the candy it makes it must now pay a
tax, but need not on the sale of the
candy it buys. The store may also sell
jewelry partly to consumers and partly
to small retailers. It must now pay a
tax on the jewelry it sells to consumers,
but not on the jewelry it sells to re-
tailers. In the case of its soda fountain
the store pays no tax, but must collect
a tax from the customers. Many other
things it sells are not taxed at all. In
making tax reports the book-keeping de-
partment of the store must be careful
to discriminate between taxed and un-
taxed articles, and taxed and untaxed
sales of taxable articles, and must ac-
count for the tax collected by the store
on articles taxed directly to the con-
sumer.

On the other hand, in the ease of a
turnover tax, the store would merely
pay 1 per cent. of its gross sales for the

 

month or quarter. Besides having no
complicated computations to make, its
returns would be most. simple. The

monthly return would consist of a mem-
orandum showing the gross sales for the
period and the tax of 1 per cent. there-
on, and the yearly return would be little
more than a combination of the monthly
returns. In fact, it would be possible
to combine the annual turnover tax re-
turn with the income tax return, for the
latter starts out with the same figure
which would be the basis of the turn-
over tax, that is to say, gross sales.

The advocates of the specific sales
taxes view with alarm the alleged un-
certainty as to whether or not the turn-
over tax could be shifted to the con-
sumer. If $1,500,000,000 of specific sales
taxes, at rate five or ten times that of
a turnover tax, can be shifted to the
consumer, Certainly $2,000,000,000 of turn-
over tax can be. If in certain cases the
specific sales taxes cannot be shifted,
business will still survive. In this
instance, aS in many others, the ad-
vocates of specific sales taxes, which
they sometimes try to disguise by using
the generic name excise taxes, are arg-
uing not against a turnover tax, but
against all taxation of sales.

Another example of this unfortunate
tendency to prove too much is the con-
tention that a turnover tax would tend
to bring about undesirable changes in
business practice through the adoption
of devices such as the substitution off
leases for sales in order ‘to get around
the tax. The gain through the adoption
of such devices, however, would only be
1 per cent., and the cost of the subter-
fuge would probably almost always be
greater than the benefit derived. Cer-
tainly, if specific sales taxes at rates of
5 or 10 per cent. do not revolutionize
business practice in the industries af-
fected, it scarcely seems possible that a
1 per cent. tax will do so.

At first blush, however, the advocates
of specific sales taxes have a more for-
midable argument in the differences
sometimes resulting from the cumulative
feature of the turnover tax. That is to
say, where A sells to B and B sells to
C, more tax in the aggregate is paid
than where A sells directly to C. The
gentlemen who lay stress on this point
sometimes become almost maudlin. in
their sympathy for the middleman and
for the single process enterprise which
competes with a multiple process enter-
prise.

The answer to this objection is that
no tax produces absolute equality and
that the difference is not enough ma-
terially to affect the position of the mid-
dleman or of the single process enter-
prise, Assuming a maximum number of
turnovers, the aggregate tax would never
be more than 3% per cent. on the final
selling price, and would usually not be

more than 2 per cent. The difference in
favor of a multiple process enterprise,
therefore, would be possibly 1 per cent.
If the middleman and the single process
enterprise can now make their expenses
and their profits, a 1 per cent. tax is
not going to disturb the balance.

When it comes to a question of dis-
crimination, what about imposing sales
taxes at the rate of 10 per cent. or high-
er on some businesses and allowing oth-
ers to go free from any tax at all? Why
discriminate so substantially between dii-
ferent classes of business men? It is
reported that some of the Canadian so-
called luxury taxes have been discon-
tinued because their discriminatory bur-
den so affected the industries concerned
as practically to destroy them. Espec-
ially as to those persons who sponsored
the excess profits tax, which is mon-
strously discriminatory as between cor-
porations and individuals and between
different classes of enterprises, it ill be-
comes them, although it shows the weak-
ness of their case, to use as the chief
argument against a turnover tax the
charge that in some cases there may be
a discrimination of 1 per cent. More-
over, one prominent tax committee, which
devotes most of its report to condemning
the turnover tax, strongly .supports the
proposed 16 per cent. tax on corporations
as a method of rough equalization be-
tween enterprises conducted by individ-
uals and enterprises conducted by corpo-
rations. As under the program contem-
plated by this committee an individual
in business might be taxed at a rate as
low as 4 per cent. on his income from
such business, arid on the other hand
might be taxed at a rate as high as
28 per cent., while a corporation in the
same business, irrespective of the amount
of its net income, would always be tax-
ed 16 per cent. on such net income, there
can be little doubt that the equalization
would be rough enough. And yet this
committee opposes the turnover tax be-
cause in a comparatively few cases there
mizht be a difference of 1 per cent. on
taxes paid by different persons!

The turnover tax of 1 per cent. is fun-
damentally equal: accidentally it may
result in slight inequality. The proposed
corporation tax of 16 per cent. is funda-
mentally inequal: accidentally it may
sometimes result in approximate equal-
ity. Which is the better tax?

Third, from the standpoint of the con-
sumer, it might as well be recognized
without hypocrisy that both = specific
sales taxes and the turnover tax are
consumption taxes. Instead, then, of
the adoption of the turnover tax mean-
ing the shifting of $2,000,000,000 of taxes
from wealth to consumption, the net in-
crease in the taxation of consumption
would amount to not over $500,000,000
at the outside. The advocates of spec-
ific sales taxes like to blink this fact.

The enactment of a turnover tax
would permit of the present exemption
from income of $1,000 for single persons
and $2,000 for married persons being
raised to $3,000 for single persons and
$4,000 for married persons. AS a Single
man with an income of $3,000 now pays
$80 in income tax and heaven knows
what in loaded specific sales taxes, and
as under the turnover tax program he

-would pay no income tax and, even

though he spent his entire income, the
turnover tax shifted to him would usu-
ally not amount to more than $60, the
consumer of moderate means would be
directly and substantially benefited by
the adoption of the turnover tax. As
to the consumer with an income less
than $1,000 or $2,000, who now pays no
income tax, the total turnover tax which
could be shifted to him would be per-
haps $20 or $40 in one case or the other,
and he would save- whatever uncertain
part of the specific sales taxes might be
shifted to him. It is the sheerest non-
sense to say that such individual under
the present system does not pay, and
under the proposed increase in specific
sale taxes would not pay, on the average
a substantial consumption tax, although
one given individual might pay none and
the next individual much more than the
average.

The old argument that the _ specific
sales taxes are limited to articles of
luxury has been abandoned, Instead the
catch phrase has been substituted that
they are or should be limited to articles
not of absolute necessity. What such
articles may be no two people will ever
agree on, and most of the advocates of
specific sales taxes prefer to leave to
Congress the designation of such arti-
cles. The tax committee already referred
to burned its fingers in its tentativve re-
port by suggesting taxes on tea, coffee
and sugar, but is beautifully vague on
its final report. As a matter of fact, of
course, there are few families in this
country whose income is so small that
they spend nothing for articles not of

 

Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

As low as is consistent with good business and safe underwriting.
Live Agents Wanted.
MICHIGAN AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CoO. .

A Stock Company.

 

WE OFFER FOR SALE

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Present market conditions make possible exceptionally
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recommendations.

HOWE, SNOW, CORRIGAN & BERTLES

401-6 Grand Rapids Savings Bank Bldg., Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

 

Fourth National Bank
Grand Rapids, Mich.
United States Depositary

  
  

 

Savings Deposits

 

Commercial Deposits

3

Per Cent Interest Pald on
Savings Deposits
Compounded Seml-Annually

l
3%
Per Cent Interest Paid on

Certificates of Deposit
Left One Year

 

 

 

Capital Stock and Surplus

$600,000

LAVANT Z. CALKIN, Vice President

 

 

 

WM. H. ANDERSON, President
J. CLINTON BISHOP, Cashier

HARRY C. LUNDBERG, Ass't Cashier ALVA T. EDISON, Ass’t Cashier

 

 

INSURANCE IN FORCE $85,000,000.00

RANSOM E. OLDS

WILLIAM A. WATTS
© Chairman of Board

President f

Mercuars Lirr INsuRANcE COMPANY

 

Offices: 4th floor Michigan Trust Bldg.—Grand Rapids, Michigan
GREEN & MORRISON—Michigan State Agents

 

 

STOCKS AND BONDS—PRIVATE WIRES TO THE LEADING MARKETS

BONDS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fenton Davis & Boyle

MICHIGAN TRUST BUILDING

\ Main 5139
Telephones | Citizens 4212

Chicago GRAND RAPIDS

Detroit

 

Conservative [nvestors

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March 23, 192

absolute necessity. so far from the eX-
isting and proposed specific sales taxes
drawing revenue from the rich according
to their ability to pay, such taxes ac-
tually bear more heavily in proportion
to thei income on those of moderate and
Small means. Most of the income of the
rich man can be and usually is spent
for nontaxable things, suen, for instanes,
as furniture and expensive foods. Who
chiefly pays the tax on sporting goods,
chewing gum, candy, pipes, toilet soaps
and soda water, the rich or the poor?

Instead of the turnover tax lightening
the burden of the rich at the expense of
the poor, those who spent most would
pay most tax. Being spread proportion-
ately, the turnover tax would avoid the
present uncertain and fortuitious§ inci-
dence of the specific sales taxes. Those
self-appointed guardians of. the com-
mon people who tell them that a turn-
over tax would exploit them and free the
rich from much of their burden are con-
sciously repeating mere guff. What is
needed is a campaign of education based
on facts and figures,

This survey of the Federal tax situa-
tion has necessarily been brief and
sketchy. Many details of the various
proposals have had to be omitted. My
purpose will have been achieved, how-
ever, if I have led you to think of the
advisability of, first, getting rid of the
non-essential taxes, which inelude_ all
those except the income tax and sales
taxes; second, determining what propor-
tion of the required revenue should be
raised through taxation of incomes and
What proportion through taxation of
sales; third, revising the income tax so
as to reduce the higher rates of surtax
and to impose an equalizing tax on cor-
porations; fourth, deciding upon the best
method of -taxing sales If you think it
out 1 am sure you will sooner or later
reach the conclusion that Federal internal
taxes should be limited to the income
tax and the turnover tax, each balancing
and supplementing the other, because
together they, and they alone, can pro-
vide for the needs of the Government
with the least uncertainty, inequality
and complexity. The French fought their
revolution for liberty, equality and fra-
ternity. It is about time we fought a
tax revolution for certainty, equality
and simplicity.

—_--~-_____
The Laboratories and Fire.
Destructive fire used to be regarded
rather

as a “element”

whose appearance could not be fore-

mysterious

seen. When it began to be traced to
its origin, however, this conclusion
was modified. It came to be realized
that certain conditions were likely to
cause fire, and with this knowledge
came an appreciation of its widespread
latency. This is an_ interesting
scientific fact. Fire is not perpetuated
and transmitted like disease; its pos-
sibilities exist on every hand but fire
itself is non-existent until the moment
when it springs from these possibili-
ties and begins to wage destruction.
Modern invention has been especial-
Time and
again, an inventor in solving some

ly prolific of fire hazard.

problem of human welfare has quite
unwittingly contributed a new and
serious fire hazard. The manufactur-
er who puts forth this invention has
unintentionally distributed this fire
hazard broadcast. Thus it may be
said that industrial progress seems to
carry inherent fire hazard, for some of
its greatest achievements spread a
measure of destruction and death as
an offset to their human service. This
is notable in the case of gas, electricity
gasolene motors, motion-picture films
Prac-
tically every home, office, store or fac-

and numerous other examples.

tory contains possibilities for the or-
igin or the spread of fire.
This condition explains the exist-

‘

ence of the Underwriters‘ Laborator-
ies. It was founded and is maintained
by the National Board of Fire Under-
writers. Its operations are “For Ser-
vice—not Profit” and its expressed
intention is that of making fire “a

It seeks
to learn the facts about all devices
and processes that may cause fire,
about all appliances for preventing
fire, about all apparatus that may be

servant and not a master.”

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

used in fighting fire and about all ma-
terials that enter into any of these
products. It does this in order that
the knowledge obtained may be util-
ized for the promotion of public safe-
ty.

Fire prevention is thus placed upon
a basis of scientific accuracy; the tests
are applied with absolute impartiality
in the case of all manufacturers whose
goods are submitted for the purpose
and are then interpreted to the public
by meaas of an extensive label system
which now involves the use of ap
proximately one million labels a day.
Underwriters’ Laboratories’ tests and
labels are to-day recognized as ab-
solutely standard in all parts of the
United States and also in foreign
countries.

—_——_> 2 ___
Opposition To the O’ Brien Bill.
Lansing, March 22—Hundreds of

telegrams have been coming to mem-
bers of the Legislature protesting
against the enactment of the bill in-
troduced by Rep. O’Brien, of Iron
county, chairman of the House Com-
mittee on Insurance, to enlarge the
limitations under which companies
engaged in what is called the recipro-
cal fire insurance business can do
business in Michigan. The millers,
the retail hardware dealers, the re-
tail shoe dealers, the lumber dealers
and many other merchandizing lines
have reciprocal insurance companies.
They have not, as a rule, been insur-
ing property outside of members ot
their state associations.

The O’Brien bill would permit re-
ciprocal companies to engage in gen-
eral insurance. The proponents of
the bill say it would strengthen the
financial responsibility of these com-
panies. Opponents of the bill say it
would enable reciprocal companies
to do a general insurance’ business
without being required to comply with
many of the requirements imposed on
stock and mutual companies engaged
in general insurance, and in increasing
and unstabilizing rates.

A great many of the protesting tele-
grams are coming from. merchants
and manufacturers. Some of the pro-
ponents of the bill are reported to be
Chicago insurance men who plan to
organize reciprocal companies. in
Michigan if the bill passes. A public
hearing on the bill will be held in
Repesentative Hall Wednesday even-
ing,

2? _____

A postmaster of Dorris, Siskiyou
county, California, is reported to have
confessed to burning his post. office
in an attempt to cover up his theft of
$5,000 in cash, received at his office.
He also attempted to secure an addi-
tional amount of cash by doubling the
insurance upon his post office building
shortly before the fire.

 

Kent State Bank

Main Office Ottawa Ave.
Facing Monroe

Grand Rapids, Mich.

Capital - - - $500,000
‘Surplus and Profit - $850,000

Resources

13 Million Dollars

345 Per Cent.

Paid on Certificates of Deposit

Do Your Banking by Mail

 

The Home for Savings

 

15

 

The Grand Rapids Merchants Mutual
Fire Insurance Co.

STRICTLY MUTUAL

Operated for benefit ot members only
Endorsed by The Michigan Retail Dry Goods Association.
Issues policies in amounts up to $15,000

Associated with several million dollar companies.

 

Offices: 319-320 Houseman Bldg. Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

 

 

Bristol Insurance Agency

“The Agency of Personal Service”’

Inspectors and State Agents for Mutual Companies

 

We Represent the Following Companies, Allowing
Dividends as indicated:
Minnesota Hardware Mutual___ 65% Michigan Shoe Dealers Mutual. 30%
Wisconsin Hardware Mutual__. 50% iNinois Hardware Underwriters 60%
Minnesota Implement Mutual___ Druggists Indemnity Exchange 36%
The Finnish Mutual Fire Ins. Co. 50%
REMEMBER WE HANDLE THE BEST COMPANIES IN THE
MUTUAL FIELD.
These Companies are known for their financial strength, fair settlements, and
prompt payment of losses. They always give you a square deal.
WE CAN NOW SAVE ANY MERCHANT 50% ON HIS INSURANCE COST.

 

C. N. BRISTOL, Manager A. T MONSON Secretary
J. D. SUTHERLAND, Fieldman

FREMONT, MICHIGAN

 

 

Confidence and Good Will

are the two great assets on which we have placed no figures. The confidence
and good will, however, has been the one cause of building the company to its
present size and financial strength.

The officers of the company, through a policy of real service and economy
of operation have made fossible the excellent financial statement published
in the Tradesman of Feb. 2.

Safety, service and economy is our bid for your patronage.

As we have never failed to show our policy holders a saving of less than

.25 per cent. annually, you had better let this good company serve you the

coming year at a saving of 30 per cent.

Submit to us your insurance problems. They will be solved in your best
interest.

 

Michigan Shoe Dealers Mutual Fire Insurance Company
Main Office: FREMONT, MICHIGAN
ALBERT MURRAY Pres. GEORGE BODE, Sec’y

 

 

 

 

Preferred Risks! Small Losses! Efficient Management!

 

enables us to declare a

0% Dividend -
For Year 1921

100% Protection and 30% Dividend, both for same money
you are paying to a stock company for a policy that
may be haggled over in case of loss.

Michigan Bankers and Merchants Mutual Fire Insurance Co.

of Fremont, Mich.
WM. N. SENF, Sec’y

 

 

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

  

March 23, 1921

 

 

EASY CREDIT.

the Cause of Many Retail
Failures.
Commercial agencies give the fol-

it is

lowing causes for the majority of fail-
ures: incompetence, inexperience, lack
of capital, unwise granting of credits,
speculation outside of regular busi-
ness, bad habits, personal extrava-
gance, fraudulent disposition of prop-
erty.

Very little attention appears to be
given to the fundamental causes of
failure. Thirty years’ study of re-
tailing methods in this country, the
study of the successes and failure of
many individual concerns, a first-hand
study of retailers and retailing meth-
ods in England and France and care-
ful analysis of all the information
gathered, leads the writer to place the
fundamental causes of failure in the
retail business in this country to dis-
honesty, lack of preparation and ex-
panded credit, with which may be
coupled too much capital.

\ National trait in this country is
for people to do things about which
they know the least. The farmer who
makes money on the farm comes to
the city or the village and buys or
starts a store. In this way he loses
his money. The man who makes
money in the city goes to the country
and buys a farm only to find it a per-
manent source of loss.

If a man is a successful druggist,
his son, instead of following in his
footsteps, starts in some other line of
which he has had no
He may even go so

business in
previous training.
far as to start a business of his own.
The father probably ends by selling
his business to some man with far
less experience than capital. The
chances of that man succeeding are
so small that in order that there may
be a permanent concern to replace the
man who sold the business, some
ninety other men must start in the
same line before one succeeds in es-
tablishing a concern as permanent as
the original one which was sold to
the inexperieneed man.

The writer’s personal observations
have convinced him that too much
capital causes more failures than lack
of capital. As a matter of fact, he has
never been able to find a single case
where lack of capital really caused
the failure of a retailer. What has been
called lack of merely
an expanded credit. The dealer ex-

capital was

panded his business to a greater ex-
tent than his credit would allow and
as a result, when conditions changed,
he failed. It was not due to lack of
capital but rather to the fact that the
banks, the manufacturers and the job-
bers were more liberal with credit
than they should have been. It was
this generosity in regard to credit and
not actual capital that caused the
failure.

Too much capital and credit is near-
ly always fatal. Study the history of
a hundred retail business that have
been in existence for forty years or
more and it will be found that nearly
every one of these were established
by men who lacked capital. They
may have had but a few hundred dol-
lars—not more than a few thousand
at most. They were so limited in re-
gard to credit and capital that they

had to watch every penny and make it
go just as far is it was posible to make
that penny go. This made it absolute-
ly necessary for them to devote all of
their attention to business. They
could not afford bad habits, personal
extravagances or outside speculations.
It was necessary to devote every wak-
ing thought to the business and some-
times to dream about it in -heir sleep.

The man with plenty of capital or
who can command a great deal of
credit usually does several things that
prove fatal to the business. First he
starts out with too great an overhead.
He rents a larger store than his busi-
ness requires, he buys more expensive

fixtures than the volume of business’

warrants, he buys goods in such
large quantities that he cannot make
the number of turn-overs a year that
are needed to show a_ substantial
profit. His interests outside his busi-
ness are also likely to interfere with
his business success. :

The rate of failures among the
stores of England and France are not
so great as they are in this country,
because the people who are in the re-
tail business there are better prepared
They learn the business

to succeed.
before they
themselves.

Here, however, it is exceedingly
easy to go into business. It is easy

launch out into it for

to borrow money, it is easy to get
credit, and the easier it is for a man
to get money and credit, the easier
for him to make a failure of his busi-
ness. When an inexperienced man
comes to a credit man to secure credit
it would be far better for all concern-
ed if that man was advised to spend
a few vears studying the business he
plans to enter and learning how to
make a success of it before the credit
is granted. As a rule, however, he
has no difficulty in securing the credit
provided he has sufficient capital of
his own or financial backing.

A certain farmer boy borrowed
money from his father and purchased
a meat market. He knew nothing
about the retail meat business, but
his father had a goodly amount of
money. As a result this boy experi-
enced no difficulty at all in securing
credit. He secured it until he had
used up all the money that he could
inherit from his father and then went
through involuntary bankruptcy pro-
ceedings

This boy’s older brother went to
work for a druggist. He learned the
druggist business from the bottom up.
After a number of years he was taken
into partnership, and when the senior
partner died he became senior part-
ner, taking into partnership with him
a young man who had been working
in the store since he entered high
school. To-day that business is more
than eighty years old and has had
four owners, each of whom began
work in that store as a boy. That
store is a success because everyone
who has had charge of it has been
prepared with care to succeed. There
are good prospects that it will con-
tinue for another hundred years.

Had the wholesale meat dealers
with whom the boy already mentioned
dealt explained to him that they
would agree to extend credit to him
if he would spend a few years work-
ing for other butchers and learning

the business, but that they would not
extend it to him on the strength of
his father’s money, the chances are
that he would have succeeded. This
narrows the cause of too many deal-
ers down to the methods used by
credit men and salesmen.

Salesmen encourage the retailer to
expand his business beyond the point
of safetv, beyond the point that his
business ability, experience and cap-
ital warrant. They sell him more
stock than he should carry and often
The bank
lends money on any good security
rather than upon a man’s. business
ability. A man can mortgage his
house and his inheritance and sink the
money thus secured in his business.

As long as a dealer continues to
pay his bills promptly, the jobbers
and manufacturers he deals with are
not inclined to worry about him.
Nevertheless it is exceedingly impor-
tant to know where that money
comes from. If it comes from out-
side the business the time is coming
when that man is most certain to
fail. If part of it comes from outside
the business, the condition of that
business is not good. Unless all of
it comes from the business _ itself
there is every chance that the concern
will sooner or later come to grief.

lack: of capital. does not cause
business failures. Instead, it often
leads to business success. Woolworth
never made a success until he had
failed three times and not only had
lost his capital but also had made a
very serious dent in his credit. Usual-
ly the less credit and capital a man
has, the more carefully he must watch
his business and the greater will be
his ultimate success. The man who is
so short of capital and credit that he
must buy new goods every day, if he
is in a city where he can get these
goods daily, is bound to make money

a wider variety of stock.

provided he has even an average de-
gree of intelligence. He is bound to
do so—first, because he is making the
maximum number of turnovers and
he has practically no money tied up
in dead stock; second, he cannot ex-
tend credits unwisely for he has no
money with which to finance such
lack of wisdom; third, if he knew
nothing about the business he would
not know how to start without cap-
ital and credit; fourth, he has to watch
his business constantly and plan and
scheme in order to remain in it at all.
Provided that man is honest and re-
tains his honesty, his chances of suc-
cess are good.

The whole matter, then, reduces
down to the fact that there are too
many dealers in business because Jit
is so easy for an inexperienced man
with money to start in business and
for so many to secure money and
credit to which their experience and
business ability does not and should
never entitle them.

J. E. Bullard.
+.
Fire Prevention Education.

Bills have been introduced in the
Legislatures of several states provid-
ing that a course of Fire Prevention
be instituted in all public schools.

The fundamental principles of Fire
Prevention are simple. They can well
be comprehended by a child of 12.
That is the impressionable age, and

lessons taught then govern the habits
of a life time. It is not necessary
that a child understand just why cer-
tain conditions produce certain re-
sults. If told by its teacher that they
do, the child will believe it and will
continue to believe it in after life.
Education is essential to Fire Pre-
vention and the one means of reach-

ing all the people at some time in-

their lives is the public school.

The statement is made, and we be-
lieve justly so, that 75 per cent. of all
fires are preventable. The annual fire
loss of the United States is placed at
$300,000,000, and to that should be
added some millions for interruption
of business. What would your igss
be in dollars if your wife or child were
burned to death? Multiply that by
23,000, the number killed annually, and
add your estimate of the loss from
17,600 injured. Set down the figures
and arrive at your own total.

From a purely business standpoint
it is reasonable to suppose that the
application of a practical knowledge
of fire prevention will reduce the fire
loss one half., In fifteen years we
could build the Great Lakes to the
Sea waterway, and connect it up with
the Mississippi River system with the
money now being wasted.

—_++-—__—
Soil Germ Causes Death.

Recent epidemic outbreaks of a
hitherto unfamiliar and often fatal
disease called “botulism,” attributed
to the eating of canned ripe olives,
has caused the United States Public
Health Service to make a careful
study of the subject.

It appears that the malady is by
no means restricted to human beings,
but attacks chickens, horses, hogs and
other domestic animals. When oc-
curing in fowls it goes by the com-
mon name of “limberneck.” On a
farm near San Francisco 643 chickens
died of it in four days after feeding
on garbage of beans and other kitch-
en refuse.

In this case the beans had been
home-canned. Four jars were found
to be spoiled, giving off a bad odor
and their contents thrown into the
garbage. But the germs accountable
for the mischief were traced to the
garden patch in which the beans were
grown.

The disease called botulism is caus-
ed by a bacterium which has been
isolated. Soil infected with its spores
is liable to communicate the infection
to vegetables grown therein. Thus
peas, beets, radishes, asparagus, car-
rots, parsnips and string beans bought
in the market of San Francisco and
neighboring towns were found to
carry the dangerous spores. Pears
and apricots have been proved ac-
countable for epidemics of botulism.

Apparently the soil derives the in-
fection from manure which may hap-
pen to carry the spores. The inves-
tigation has not gone beyond this
surmise; but it would seem that the
only sure protection against botulism
is by cooking vegetables before eat-
ing them, and particularly by discard-
ing any vegetable or fruit which
shows the least sign of spoilage.

——__+<- +

The truth is that nobody knows

what the truth is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Ei
FE
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March 23, 1921

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

17

 

 

 

AN ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT OFFERING

PETOSKEY TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, Petoskey, Michigan
CAPITAL STOCK

100,000 Shares Preferred Stock

100,000 Shares No Par Value Common Stock

First Public Offering of 8% Preferred Stock and Common Stock Without Par Value of the
PETOSKEY TRANSPORTATION COMPANY

PURPOSE OF THE COMPANY

The Petoskey Transportation Company was organized for
the sole purpose of transporting the products of the Petoskey
Portland Cement Company—cement and crushed limestone
—and for hauling coal.

Th Petoskey Portland Cement Company sold, in less than
two weeks, 250,000 barrels of cement in Wisconsin, besides
what will be delivered in Michigan ports. The Company
could have sold is entire output in Wisconsin, but deemed it
wiser to develop a wider market and therefore is taking ad-
vantage of the large demand in Michigan. There will always
be a large and growing market for the products of the Pe-
toskey Portland Cement Company in Wisconsin and all Great
Lakes ports.

The Petoskey Transportation Company will purchase three
boats—two for hauling cement, and one for carrying crushed
limestone to Toledo, Cleveland and lower lake ports and
hauling coal back from these same ports to the plant of the
Petoskey Portland Cement Company.

The three boats will cost from $850,000 to $950,000 and
will be purchased with the money derived from the sale of the
Company's securities, and there still will be left a working

capital of from $100,000 to $150,000.

The cement carrying boats will be of 800 to 1,000 tons,
and 600 to 800 tons carrying capacity, and the coal carrying
boat will be of 3,000 to 5,000 tons carrying capacity. The 800
to 1,000 ton boat will be used to transport cement to Wis-
consin ports, and the 600 to 800 ton boat will be used to
transport cement to Michigan and Lake Superior ports.

These boats will be kept fully employed during the entire
navigation season, by the Cement Company. The Transpor-
tation Company has to solicit no business.

It is therefore evident that inasmuch as the Transportation
Company will have its entire investment in boats always at
work at market rates, that it will be able o make a very good
reurn on its investment. Any transportation company so
situated can do very well.

EARNINGS

In transporting only the material already contracted for,
for 1921 delivery, a total gross earning of $378,675 will be
produced. The total cost of operation figured on the 1920
basis of costs, is $170,370. The 1921 basis is without ques-
tion less, but for the sake of conservatism the 1920 level of
costs is used. These costs have been taken from the figures
of one of the largest and most successful water transportation
companies of the Great Lakes. The cost of operation includes
labor, fuel, oil, supplies, insurance, general expense, and win-
ter storage and repairs. In addition, in figuring the earning,
each boat has been credited with only 28 weeks of earning,
but has been charged with 30 full weeks cost of operation.

The net earning of the three boats is $208,305. From this
must be taken $30,000 (3% of $1,000,000—the approximate
cost of the boats) as the United States Government Income
Tax Department figures depreciation on this basis.

This leaves about $178,000 available for dividends.
After paying $80,000, or 8% on $1,000,000 preferred stock,
there is left $98,000 available for common stock dividends,
or nearly 10% on the common stock if it were sold at $10.00
per share.

MANAGEMENT

The management of the Petoskey Transportation Com-
pany will be in the hands of the same men who built and put
into operation the Petoskey Portland Cement Company's
cement plant, during a most difficult time. In doing this, they
accomplished what was considered to be impossible by many
strong business men.

In addition to these men, there will be others of. equal
business ability and standing connected with the management
of the Transportation Company. At the operating end wil
be men of long, successful and actual experience in maritime
affairs.

UNIQUE POSITION OF THE PETOSKEY TRANSPORTA-
TION COMPANY FROM THE START

The Petoskey Transportation Company is in a unique posi-
tion, inasmuch as it positively will have its entire investment
fully employed.

The above figures on earnings and operation costs are
based on facts. There are no “ifs” about how much this
Transportation Company has to transport or about its earn-
ings. It has figured its operation cost on a high basis, and
still should be able to show a large return.

The Petoskey Transportation Company is now in the posi-
tion of a going concern, so far as knowing what it has to do,
and what it should be able to earn.

Whether other transportation companies are busy or not,
the Petoskey Transportation Company always will be, for
the reasons above given.

Could any company engage in business under more fav-
orable conditions? Could any company have behind it better
security than the fact that its equipment will always be em-
ployed at its maximum capacity?

Every investor and business man knows that any com-
pany engaging in business under such conditions should make
better than an ordinary success.

In this strong enterprise, we offer for sale 8% preferred
stock, with dividends payable the last days of June and De-
cember, beginning June 30th, 1921.

The possible dividend on the common stock has been
given above.

With every two shares of preferred stock at $10.00 per
share can be purchased one share of common stock at $1.00
per share.

This offering will not last long, therefore investigate and
act now.

We highly recommend this stock as an investment.

 

F. A. Sawall Company
313-314-315 Murray Building
GRAND RAPIDS

Citz. 62209 Bell M. 3596

Gentlemen:

1 am interested in an investment in the Petoskey Trans-

portation Company.

Without any obligation on my part, send me all par-

ticulars regarding the Company.
Yours truly,

MICHIGAN

Name pla pee

Address —

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

 

March 23, 1921

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-

tie

ww Door

fi

ATS
(
' wy

a
_
—

TOVES AND wee we =

 
   

q LAL Wu
A WALL

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michigan Retail Hardware Association.
President—Norman G. Popp, Saginaw.
Vice-President—Chas. J. Sturmer, Port

Huron.
Secretary—Arthur J. Scott,

City.

Treasure aT illiam — _Detroit.

Marine

 

ints on Pine the Spring Sales
Campaign.
Written for the Tradesman.

Although March has not yet run its
there are plentiful signs that
spring is near at hand. Nature is be-
ginning to throw off the shackles of
The indefinable spring feel-
ing is in the air. The days of the over-
coat, the muffler, the furnace and the
snow-shovel are numbered.

All of which are so many hints to
dealer that he must get
a great deal to
a quickening of
sales and

course,

winter.

the hardware
busy. Spring means
the hardware dealer;
buying activity, bigger
larger profits.

\t this juncture particular attention
should be paid to the farm trade. The
farmer’s needs when spring opens are
requires implement
pitchforks,
shovels, implement repair parts. He

numerous. He
paint, nails for repairs,
and there is no reason
dealer should not
this as well as the
other goods he buys. In fact, before

requires seed—
why the hardware

supply him with

tarting in his spring work the farmer
1eeds a great many things; and for
these he naturally comes to the hard-
ware dealer.

Some dealers are inclined to scoff at
“outside professing to
believe that it does not pay to go after

salesmanship,”
business. In the last few years, under
war conditions, with help scarce and
the demand a great deal more than
old-time,

nybody could supply, the

egressive business-getting methods
ell

'
i

somewhat into disuse. But the
endulum is swinging back to pre-war
onditions where the man who wanted
to do business had to get out and
hustle for trade, instead of waiting for
trade to come to his store.

As a rule, particularly in the small
ommunity that depends largely on
country trade,

outside salesmanship

does pay. The hardware dealer who
had the hardihood to make periodical
trips through the surrounding rural
during the first two months

of the year,

districts
when there was not
enough business doing to make his
presence at the store imperative, will
now reap the benefit. The farmers
with whom he got into touch on his
ountry trips are ready to do their

ring buying and it is a pretty good

et that many of them will pay him a
visit.

As a result, Saturdays will be busy
days, and steps should be taken to in-
dealers
systematic efforts to bring out

sure good service. Some
make

the city trade on the other days of
the week, concentrating their adver-

- orders.

tising on certain days with that object
in view. Undoubtedly it pays to keep
the Saturdays clear as far as possible
for country trade—this, of course, in
the small town stores where the farm-
er trade is a big factor.

Incidentally, the rural telephone can
be made a great help in getting in
touch with the farmers. Perhaps you
have a list of farmer prospects for
this, that or the other line of goods.
They will be buying in a few weeks,
probably; now is the time to call them
up and get them in the mood to visit
your store.

In normal years, builders’ hardware
is a big factor in the spring trade.
Latterly, on account of high costs,
building has been limited. Yet this is
a line that, taking it by and large, in
the long run is sure to be a big factor
in the hardware business. So, even
though the outlook is not favorable
to extensive business or a large turn-
over in this department, it will pay
to keep in touch with men engaged or
interested in building and, so to speak,
to “keep your hand in.”

Meanwhile, there is sure to be some
business, and, so far as it goes, it will
be good business; and it will pay you
to push it hard, if only for the sake
of keeping your stock clean. The de-
mand for housing accomodation is
real; and some of these days there is
going to be a lot of new building. In
this connection, it is worth while to
keep in view thé requirements of
Here are the
views of a hardware dealer in a fair-
sized city—a man who has specialized
in builders’ hardware and made a big

handling this line.

success of it:

“TI find that it not only pays to have
a man outside looking up prospective
buyers and taking orders, but that it
also pays to have this man an expert
in building hardware—a man who can
capable
enough to look over an architect’s
plans and give a good idea

give suggestions—who is

of what
will be wanted.

Many architects who have this
building work in hand have only
general knowledge of builders’ hard-

a

ware. They have not considered this
phase of the work particularly. They
are leaving these details until the main
part of the job is finished. But if a
man goes to them and is able to say—-
you will need this and that, for that
room you will need a certain kind of
lock and door knob, you will need this
style of hinge and that variety of win-
dow clasp—such a man will get large
Many architects are only too
willing to have an expert go over their
plans room by room, and while they
may not agree with all that he sug-
gests, they will yet have confidence in
him, and working with him will make
out an order for all they require.

 

Foster, Stevens & Co.
Wholesale Hardware
4

157-159 Monroe Ave. : 151 to 161 Louis N. W.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

 

 

GRAND RAPIDS,

Brown & Sehler Co.

‘‘“Home of Sunbeam Goods’’

Manufacturers of

HARNESS, HORSE COLLARS

Jobbers in

Saddlery Hardware, Blankets, Robes, Summer Goods, Mackinaws,
Sheep-Lined and Blanket-Lined Coats, Sweaters, Shirts, Socks,

Farm Machinery and Garden Tools, Automobile Tires and
Tubes, and a Full Line of Automobile Accessories.

MICHIGAN

 

 

 

Michigan Hardware Co.

Exclusively Wholesale

Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

BARLOW BROS.

 

Pioneer Broom Co.
Amsterdam, N. Y.

Makers of
High Grade Brooms

Ne

Ask about our way.
Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

We are making a special offer on

Agri

Grand

Michigan Jobbers:
Symons & Moffett Co., Flint
Sturgis Grocery Co., Sturgis
Moulton Grocer Co., Muskegon

Ask for ‘‘Comet,’’ ‘“‘Banker,”’

cultural Hydrated Lime
in less than car lots.

A. B. KNOWLSON CoO.
Rapids Michigan

 

 

fo nnn

“‘Mohawk”’ or ‘“‘Pioneer”’
brands.

 

Krekel-Goetz Sales & Supply Co
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Michigan Representatives

139-141 Mon-<
Roth Phones
GRABD RAPIDS, MICH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rana tae =

 

 

 

 

 

March 23, 1921

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

 

“What is true of architects applies
somewhat similarly to contractors.
These men perhaps understand build-
ers’ hardware somewhat better than
the architect. But they are busy men.
In rush times they have several jobs
on hand, and are only too willing to
be saved work. If an expert comes to
them to discuss: what they will need
for their various houses, they will take
the question up gladly. They will sug-
gest certain things and listen to what
the salesman has to suggest. They
will object to certain proposals, per-
haps. “Too expensive,’ they will say.
Then the salesman will either have to

show that the cost of this high-class °

fixture would not really be great, or
he will have to suggest some other
line, cheaper in price, yet of a grade
that will give satisfaction.

“I have had cases where the con-
tractor preferred to come to the stcre
and select what he wanted. But more
often he is willing to give his order in
advance.

“I find it is a good plan for the out-
side salesman to carry samples. Talk
to a man about a certain lock or hinge
and he will listen. Show him the lock
or hinge and he will pick it up and
examine it closely. Samples undoubt-
edly bring orders. That is another
advantage of having an expert on this
kind of work. When he first sees a
building he can estimate approximate-
ly what it is to cost. He will know,
therefore about what class of fixture
will be needed. He can _ pick up
samples of this class of goods and can
show the builders the exact articles
he can supply. Undoubtedly, samples
help.”

In every community there are
private individuals from time to time
having homes erected for themselves.
They have engaged the services of
some builder; but it is they themselves
who decide what is to go into the
house. The house may be compara-
tively small, yet they will want the
best. With such prospects as these
the outside salesman finds particular-
ly good business. “My salesman,”
said the hardware dealer previously
quoted, “finds out from the builder
who the owner is. Then he goes to
the owner and finds out what class of
goods he wants. He offers to bring
some of the lines he has in stock. In
practically every case the amateur
builder is only too glad to look at
these. He asks about the various
makes. Perhaps he consults the build-
er. He decides what he will want, and
places an order. The goods may not
be needed for months, but the order is
secured and the hardware dealer has
only to arrange to fill it.”

Of course, for a smaller community
these methods must be adapted to
local conditions and local limitations;
but the principle holds good that ser-
vice counts for a lot in selling builders’
hardware; and that the salesman who
knows the business from the ground
up has the inside track as against all
competitors.

It will pay to watch this. business
for, however limited it may be to-day,
in the perhaps not very distant future
it is likely to prove a big thing for
hardware dealers.

Victor Lauriston.

Gompers Threatens Revolution.

President Gompers of the American
Federation of Labor is free in his pre-
dictions of revolution and destruction
if the power of union labor should be
Where _ the ~ individual
union threatens the destruction of the
individual

destroyed.
employer if he does not
yield to its demands, Mr. Gompers
threatens ruin to the
organized labor is
not allowed to have its way with in-
dustry and capital.

revolution and

whole country if

Organized labor would destroy free
labor. The open shop—open to any
free workman or to any union work-
man, means the destruction of union
labor to Mr. Gompers, and the in-
cidental ruin of the country. Has Mr.
Gompers ever reflected, we wonder,
on what the enslavement of labor to
Has it ever
occurred to him that it destroys the
right of American citizens to free em-
ployment, untrammeled by the dicta-
tion of others; and nullifies the fun-
damental right of a man to sell his
muscle to any man who wants to buy
it and is willing to pay the workman
the wages he wants?

———__>
Paper Bowls.

the union leaders mean?

A new idea in finger-bowls has been
patented by Simon Bergman, of New
York. It is made of paper, and on
the inside of its bottom is printed an
advertisement in invisible ink. When
water is poured into the receptacle,
the printing appears.

The inventor says that the printing
should become visible with a slow de-
velopment, so that a person using the
finger-bowl will notice the gradual ap-
pearing of the advertisement, and
thereby have his attention directed to
it.

The same idea may be applied to a
paper ice-cream saucer or a paper
drinking cup.

_ #12
Parlor Broom ic Each.

During a special sale, one grocer
advertised that he would sell a good
parlor broom to the first 50 adults
taking advantage of his special sale
beginning on a certain day. As a re-
sult his sale started off with a jump
and this stunt proved a very effective
advertising stunt. This same idea may
be employed in various ways with
equal success. The grocer need not
necessarily use brooms for the occa-
sion. He may use coffee, some can-
ned goods, breakfast food, or any of
a dozen different items. Of course,
the offer should be attractive and be
a real bargain as in the above case.

Sand Lime Brick

Nothing as Durable
Nothing as Fireproof
Makes Structures Beautiful
No Painting
No Cost for Repairs
Fire Proof
Weather Proof
Warm in Winter
Cool In Summer

Brick is Everlasting

 

 

Grande Brick Co., Grand Rapids
So. Mich. Brick Co., Kalamazoo
Saginaw Brick Co., Saginaw

Jackson .ansing Brick Co., Rives
Junction

 

 

WM. D. BATT

FURS

Hides
Wool Tallow

 

28-30 Louis St.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

 

   

 

     

19
cHas CO rE) |
MAW Qn ow
NSIS
\ . ks

 
 

 

Store and Window

AWNINGS

made to order of white or khaki duck,
plain and fancy stripes.

Auto Tents, Cots, Chairs, Ete.
Send for booklet.

CHAS A. COYE, Inc.

GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIGAN

 

 

We carry in stock and manu-

facture all styles and sizes in WT

Loose Leaf Devices. We sell

direct to you.

 

Flat Opening
Loose Leaf Devices

   

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

 

 

 

 

Moter Rewinding
and Repairing

We carry a complete stock of

Robbins-Myers Motors
for which we are sole agents
for Michigan.

We have a fair stock of
second hand motors.

re

W. M. Ackerman Electric Co.
549 Pine Ave., Grand Rapids
Citizens 4294 Bell 288

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signs of the Times
Are

Electric Signs

Progressive merchants and manufac-
turers now realize the value of Electric
. Advertising.

We furnish you with sketches, prices
and operating cost for the asking.

 

 

THE POWER CO.

Bell M 797 Citizens 4261

 

 

 

EVEREADY

STORAGE BATTERY
ATR ROTATOR OIL STREETERS

Guaranteed 114 years
and a size for
YOUR ear
SHERWOOD HALL CO., LTD.,
Distributors
Local Service Station,

Quality Tire Shop,

117 Island Street,
Grand Rapids, Michigan.

ANGLEFOQ

PRODUCTS

STICKY FLY PAPER, STICKY [LY RIBBON,
TREE TANGLEFOOT, ROACH-ANT POWDER.

THEO&W. THUM Co., MANUFACTURERS.
GRANDRAPIDS, Mich. WALKERVILLE,CANADA.

 

 

20

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

March 23, 1921

 

PRICE MAINTENANCE.
Reasons Why Legislation
Should Be Opposed.*

Explanatory note: The abbrev iation
P. M. stands for “price maintenance.”
P. F. stands for “price freedom.’

In discussing price maintenance, or
approaching it from the other side as
price freedom, it is well to assume a
viewpoint that is not selfish. Like
many other economic questions, if
approached from the side of self-in-
terest, it is a subject of indefinite ar-
gument that at best results in the
state of mind that leaves a man con-
vinced against his will who is of the
same opinion still, For that reason
my first approach will be from the
economic aspect and subsequently
from that of the retail merchant.

Professor Taussig, of Harvard Uni-
versity, in an article on P. M., pub-
lished in the American E conomic Re-
view, makes the statement, “Having
explained the phenomenon—the first
business of the economist and doubt-
less his main business—-we may con-
sider whether it conduces to the pub-
lic well being.” The phenomenon he
refers to is that, as lowered price
usually means greater consumption,
why is it that the manufacturer ob-
jects to the lowering of prices? After
discussing some of the arguments
against P. F., he says: “But all such
speculation suggests once more that
the remedy for the evils should be
taken up by public authorities, not put
into the hands of the manufacturers
and retailers through a system of price
prescription. They are after all in-
terested parties and a system of pre-
scription by interested parties is ob-
jectionable.”

After discussing the various mech-
anisms for distributing merchandise by
mail order houses, department stores,
co-operative stores, chain stores, etc.,
and experiments in the attempt to re-
duce the cost of the operation, profes-
sor Taussig says: “What will finally
come of all this, it will be rash to pre-
dict. The jobber may remain, the
country storekeeper is not likely to
disappear; retdiling on a modest scale
has shown a tenacious vitality in the
face of attacks of the department
store; there is no possibility of saying
in advance just what the situation will
be a quarter or half century from
now, but the only promising way of
getting a more effective distributing
process is to let any and every ex-
periment be tried by anyone who
thinks he can do the thing more
cheaply. And this would seem to be
a decisive reason against encouraging
the fixed price system. It stands in
the way of the experimenter. In
other words, one of the foremost
economists that believes that P. M. is
contrary to public interest for the
reason that it leads to stagnation in
the development of distribution.

The function of the distributor is to
place in the hands of the consumer the
product of the factory and the mill
at the smallest increase in cost that
is compatible with the service he ren-
ders. In a country as large as ours
it must be realized that single stand-
ard of cost for merchandise or for ser-
vice are impossible to attain if a fair
treatment is to be accorded to all sec-
tions. That Maine corn in cans should
be sold to the jobber in California at
the same price as to the jobber in
Maine, or that California - canned
peaches should be sold to the jobber
in Maine at the same price as in Cal-
ifornia, violates all ideas economic or
of justice that lead to the greatest pub-
lic good. That the cost of the con-
duct of his business should be the
same to the jobber or retailer in the
various counties of the forty-eight
states, not to mention the Philippines,
Alaska and Porto Rico, is a condition
that common sense denies.

What, then, constitutes the greatest
interest of the public? As I see it, the
public that is the ultimate consumer is
interested in his ability to buy en
needs at as low a price as possible.

*Paper read at convention sie
Retail Dry Goods Association by Percy
S. Straus, Vice-President R. H. Macy &
Co., New York.

Cogent

 

is this that has led to the development
of various types of distributing organ-
izations. If there were not the pos-
sibility and actuality of the catalogue
house to sell at lower prices than the
country store, we should not have had
the enormous development of the for-
mer in the past twenty years. If, by
the same logic, the department store
could not undersell the specialty shop,
the former would not have multiplied
and increased in size as it has since
its start in the seventies. And, finally,
if the chain store plan had not had
definite contribution to make to econ-
omical distribution, it would not have
grown until to-day we have organiza-
tions with hundreds of individual
stores scattered through out the coun-
try. Who shall say that some genius
will not arise who will give us still
another method for marketing that
will transcend in service and cheap-
ness those just mentioned? It is be-
cause each of the types already known,
having varying costs, both of over-
head and special expense, that be-
lievers in legalized P. M. have become
so active in the past five years. They
would measure each one by the same
yardstick and assign to all the same
rate of profit without regard to the
cost and the interest of the consumer.
In order not to stunt the development
of these different types and so as not
to kill the inventive idea of some
Woolworth, Professor Taussig urges
that: “Any and every experiment be
tried by anyone who thinks he can do
the thing more cheaply,” and this is
bis “decisive reason against encour-
aging the fixed price system.’

The advocates of P. M. or the fixed
price system claim actually, as well as
in the proposed legislation, that they
have had introduced in Congress the
ability and hence the permission to
prescribe the prices at which their
wares shall be sold both by the whole-
saler and the retailer. This pre-sup-
poses not only a knowledge on the
part of the manufacturer of costs
throughout the country, but an impar-
tial judgment as between different
places and kinds of distributors and
an unselfishness that is too superhu-
man to be specifically recognized by
the law.

The price maintainers have asked,
in the five bills that have been intro-
duced at their instigation, for the
right to regulate their own profits and
those of the wholesaler and of the re-
tailer. In order to accomplish this,
they have had introduced in Congress
the following bills:

1914—-Mr. Stevens of N. H.

1915—Mr. Ayers of Kansas.

1916—Mr. Stephens of Nebraska.
1916—Senator Ashhurst of Arizona.
1917—-Mr. Stephens of Arizona.

They are all practically the same
bills. The difference in the last three
is an additional clause exempting pub-
lic libraries and certain religious, edu-
cational and scientific societies from
its hardships. In order to place the
bill before you succinctly and without
prejudice, I will read a synopsis in-
cluded in an article on P. M., written
by H. B. Tisdal, an instructor in the
College of Business Administration of
Boston University. He said: “The
Stephens-Ashhurst bill, which has
formed the basis cf most of the dis-
cussion, states that anv producer who
does not possess a monopoly over an
identified article shall have the power
to fix by contract the resale price for
goods of his manufacture which must
be maintained by wholesalers and re-
tailers to whom he sells. The ma-
chinery provided for securing such
control of resale prices is very simple.
The right is to be acquired by regis-
tering a schedule of the prices selected
with the Federal Trade Commission
and by paying a registration fee of ten
dollars. It is provided that prices
shall be uniform for all dealers of like
grade and that there shall be no dis-
crimination among retailers and
wholesalers. Certain provisions are
made for sale of the identified ar-
ticles at lower than registered prices
Such a concession was found neces-
sary in order that articles which had
become less valuable because of

change of style, damage, or for other
reasons might be disposed of at less
than the full fixed price. According
to the bill, such articles were to be
first offered to the manufacturer not
less than thirty days before the date
set for the disposal sale. The manu-
facturer was given the option of re-
purchasing the articles at cost and
only if he refuses to exercise his op-
tion may the goods be sold at less
than the fixed resale price. Ifa dealer
intends to discontinue the sale of cer-

tain fixed price articles or if he in-
tends to go out of business, and the
sale is made in the course of winding
up the business, variations from the
uniform price are permitted only when
prior offer is made to the producer,

and if written statements are filed at
the office of the Federal Trade Com-
mission, giving reasons for such sale
and the statement of the refusal of the
producer to accept the offer of re-

_purchase.”

The reasons they give for the need
of such drastic legislation are four-
teen in number, according to the re-
port on the matter circulated by the
United States Chamber of Commerce.
Only three of them mention the pub-
lic and those three are the following:
3. It is destructive to the interest
of the public because the distribution
is in the power of the few, thus de-
priving the public of their wants that
might otherwise be secured in the
neighborhood.

7. it is not of advantage to the
public, as it denies employment to
many who might otherwise be em-
ployed in smaller stores.

10. It is not fair either to the pub-
lic, the manufacturer or the retailer,
since their highest ambition is to sup-
ply the demand at a fair remunera-
tion, :

These, then, are the evils referred
to by professor Taussig who says,
“The remedy for the evil should be
taken up by public authority, not put
into the hands of the manufacturer or
retailers through a system of price re-
striction. They, after all, are inter-
ested parties and a system of prescrip-
tion by interested parties is objection-
able.”

That this same view occurred is evi-
denced by a bill introduced by Sena-
tor Borah, of Idaho, who took the
Stephens-Ashhurst bill and added to
it a requirement that any manufac-
turer who availed himself. of its pro-
vision would have to submit to an in-
vestigation of his own profits by the
Federal Trade Commission. Some of
us who opposed the Stephens-Ash-
hurst bill, althugh we saw no need for
any legislation, would have given care-
ful consideration to Senator Borah’s
proposal, but the men behind P. M.
would have none of it. They wanted
the right to prescribe the profits of
others without submitting theirs to
the prescription of public authorities.
Thus we see that from the viewpoint
of the public, which is that of the
economist, the price maintainers have
made a very poor case. They have
drawn up a list of evils to be remedied
that are specious if not absolutely un-
true and that have not appealed to
congressional committees or the Fed-
eral Trade Commission. To cure this
imaninary evil, they have asked for
remedies that have been condemned
by the foremost economists. of
the country as contrary to public
policy. In part they have called at-
tention by their campaigns to the need
for price freedom if communities are
to benefit by their proximity to points
of production and not all be penalized
to pay, as they would under P. M.,
the highest cost necessary to market
commodities in the places most re-
mote from points of production. This
would certainly be contrary to public
interests. Let us now see the effect of
such legislation on the distributors of
the country.

Professor Brisco, Director of the
N.-Y. U. School of Retailing, is my
authority for the statement that dis-
tribution employs more people in this
country than any other occupation ex-
cept agriculture.

If it is evident, as previously indi-

a PT em OOP NSE an

cated, that price maintenance is con-
trary to the best interests of the pub-
lic, and if, as Professor Brisco states,
there are more people engaged in dis-
tribution than in anv other activity
but agriculture in this country, it be-
hooves us to investigate just how the
interests of these distributors would
be affected thereby.

Competition can be analyzed into
four categories: Price, Terms, Service
and Quality. In any given commodity
those who compete with one another
in all four are comparatively few in
number. This results from the differ-
ent patronage which is sought. In
spite of variations in competition,
there can be no competition in quality
without consideration of price, and no
competition in price without consid-
eration of quality. In comparing
prices comparison of the quality for
the price is essential, just as in com-
paring quality consideration of price
is essential. This is a matter which
advocates of price maintenance en-
tirely ignore.

In the report above referred to of
the United States Chamber of Com-
merce, the following statement is
made as its first conclusion:

“A properly regulated system of
price maintenance on identified mer-
chandise made and sold under compe-
titive conditions puts the emphasis in
competition upon the quality aid ser-
vice, while at the same time it pro-
vides for the public adequate protec-
tion against extortion.”

This statement indicates a very evi-
dent lack of understanding of the con-
ditions previaling in retail distribu-
tion throughout the country. If in De-
troit there be a large store employing
the best of salespeople, giving the or-
dinary credit and delivery service, and
if on the other hand there be a cash
and carry store selling the same article
of branded merchandise, let us say an
Ingersoll watch, how can there be
a comparison of the advantage: of
shopping in one or the other unless
the question of price be a factor? A
customer cannot be expected to pay
the same price for the watch in the
store in which the surroundings are
simple as possible, in which merchan-
dise must be carried and no credit is
given, as he should in the well ap-
pointed store, attractively furnished,
where the watch would be delivered to
his door and payment would not be
expected for a period of from thirty
to sixty days

The price element must be consid-
ered and all attempts to minimize it
as an important factor in competition
must fall of their own weight in the
mind of anyone in contact with actual
business conditions. The same con-
dition which I have just outlined hold
for the competition between depart-
ment stores, mail order houses and
cash and carry chain stores. In fact,
in every phase of competition, price
is a factor which cannot be ignored.

Another favorite saying of those
who believe in price maintenance is
that the sale of merchandise on a non-
restricted price basis fosters monop-
oly as it concentrates distribution in-
to the hands of the few. Those of us
who have watched the development
of the specialty store in New York
realize the absolute fallacy of this
statement. The Herald Square dis-
trict in New York was barren of busi-
ness activity of all kinds until the
large stores opened there. Following
that movement a number of small
specialty shops grouped themselves
in the immediate neighborhood and
entirely filled both sides of thirty-
fourth street from Madison avenue to
Seventh avenue (four blocks) with
exception of those parts occupied by
the department stores and the hotels.
In addition on Fifth avenue and
Broadway they filled the buildings not
occupied by department stores. An
indication in another city of the fall-
acy of price freedom developing mon-
opoly by concentrating distribution in
the big stores is contained in a news
article published in Womens Wear,
May 11, 1915:

“Steps recently taken by a great
number of small shops along Broad-

 

ore.

March 23, 1921 MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

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22

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

  

March 23, 1921

 

way and Market streets (Newark) to
induce department stores to keep open
late Saturday nights give an interest-
ing insight into the relations between
these two groups of stores. It ap-
pears that after a mutual of about a
year ago the department stores made
a rule to close early on Saturday
afternoons. The circular recently is-
sued by the small-shop keepers re-
questing the keeping open of the de-
partment stores, as they are instru-
mental in drawing customers to the
shopping district, would tend to show,
it is commented, that while the small
shops do not fear the competition of
the mammoth stores in point of ser-
vice and values given, they need them
as a means of bringing trade to their
doors.”

If unrestricted price favored mon-
opoly and if monopoly is indicated by
concentration of retail selling in the
hands of large stores, this evidence
from Newark should be conclusive.

Another favorite statement made
by price maintainers and included in
the aforementioned United States
Chamber of Commerce report is that
unrestricted price is neither fair nor
honest, as the only aim is to secure
the legitimate patrons of another to
the ultimate end of making up losses
by other sales at advanced prices. To
retail merchants it seems hardly nec-
essary to more than mention this
statement as it carries its own refuta-
tion. Any merchant in competition
with another tries t osecure the legiti-
mate patrons of that other. That is
competition. If his methods be eth-
ical and legitimate there should be no
criticism of such competition. The at-
traction of patrons to a particular
store naturally keeps them from an-
other store. How successful a mer-
chant would be if he based his claim
for patronage on his underselling his
competitors on branded wares and
making up for possible loss thus in-
curred by increasing prices of the
rest of his stock, is not problematical.
The buying public is too well educat-

ed to be fooled by any such subter-
fuge. Price maintainer’s arguments
are usually based on the inequity of
merchants selling branded merchan-
dise for cost or less than cost. Doubt-
less there are sporadic instances of
that kind; but as merchants we try
to avoid them and usually succeed.
This is merely another indication of
the lack of appreciation on the part
of the price maintainers of the essence
of competition.

Another statement made in the same
report is to the effect that unrestricted
price is neither fair nor honest, be-
cause each item of merchandise should
bear its proportion to overhead ex-
pense. This need hardly bé answered
to a group of department store ex-
ecutives. We all know that each de-
partment, when analyzed, carries a
different overhead and that within de-
partments it is impossible to get the
same percentage of profit on all mer-
chandise. If merchandising were so
simple a matter that the percentage of
profit for each department could be
set and adherred to, our problems
would be much easier. It is said that
unrestricted price destroys the value
of the manufacturer’s name by leading
some merchants to refuse to carry an
article on which the price has been
cut. In my various controversies and
arguments on this question I have
asked those who back P. M. to men-
tion a single manufacturer whose
record will prove that his business has
been seriously hampered by price free-
dom. Thus far no satisfactory answer
has been given to this question; in
fact, as Professor Taussig points out
reduced price means increased sales.
and increased sales cannot but help
the manufacturers, the sale of whose
product is thus increased.

The fight for the right to dictate
price if analyzed is being carried on
by two interests: First, that small
group of manufacturers of branded
merchandise who have built up a good
will that they would like to have pro-
tected by special, privileged legisla-

tion; second, those distributors at re-
tail who cannot compete with the
more efficiently organized and want
government aid to guarantee them a
profit in spite of their inefficiency.
The first group believe that if they
can make it illegal to break their
stipulated prices they can secure a
strangle-hold on the market for their
specialties. They have establ.shed a
demand for their product by tre-
mendous advertising, and they believe
that if they can guarantee a satisfac-
tory profit to the retailers there will
be little chance of new brands being
introduced. It is this ever-present
hope of exclusive markets- that has
led the price maintainers to spend
large sums of money year after year
in trying to have their pet system
legalized. There is large profit in the
plan to them, and as long as that pos-
sibility of profit from government in-
terference in business is dangling be-
fore them, they will make their an-
nual pilgrimage with hats or bats in
hand to the hall of Congress. It be-
hooves the merchants who believe in
their function as an honorable and es-
sential one, to stand: between this de-
sire for undeserved profits and the
public interest which is also their own
interest. ;

The price maintainers have repeat-
edly said that the wholesaler and the
retailer are agents of the manufactur-
er, and that as such they should be
given a fair compensation. I say to
you that if we are agents we may de-
serve only that return for our service
as our principals may determine. But
I believe that we should resent the
inference that we are merely subor-
dinates to the manufacturer. Our
function is as important as his. The
product of the factory is worthless if
not placed where it can be easily
bought by the consumer. The dis-
tributor earns his profit as fully as
does the producer. If there be no
place for the merchant the sooner that
fact is established the better. But if
he is to function not as such but as

an agent, let him be relieved of the
responsibility of the independent dis-
tributor. This country needs a large
number of merchants of independence
and character in every village, town
and city of every state and territory.
It needs men who will assume the
responsibilities that are rightly theirs,
men who will resent the imputation
that if they do not conform to the
factious notions of manufacturers that
they are pirates and cut-throats.

It is to the development of men of
that type that dry goods associations,
city, state and National, should devote
themselves. If we should as mer-
chants, fail to see our duty, and our
value to the communities in which we
live, we will then and only then de-
serve to be handicapped by such legis-
lation as the price maintainers and
the American Fair Trade League
would have placed on the statute
books under the title, Stephens-Ash-
hurst bill.

Kindly let me call your attention to
the fact that the present administra-
tion has announced the policy of more
business in government and less gov-
ernment in business. If that be the
basis on which we are to operate dur-
ing the next four years, it seems evi-
dent that both the legislative and ex-
excutive branches of our Government
will resent the attempt to introduce
price maintenance legislation. If the
merchants in every state will back the
Goverment in this attitude we will
have less to fear from the self-seeking
agitators who try to obtain govern-
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sabe

 

   

March 23, 1921
VIEWPOINT OF WHOLESALER

Great Shortage in Store For Next
Fall.*

A few weeks ago, while on a trip
through the West Indies, I took an
automobile ride across the island of
Jamacia. While going through the
mountains, at one place the road
seemed to run gently downward for
two or three miles yet the automobile
which we were in was laboring hard
and finally the driver had to throw
her into second speed. It seems that
while to all of us it looked as though
we were going down hill, we were, as
a matter of fact going up hill, and
quite a steady, steep grade, too. A
man across the valley must have
known that we were going up hill, yet
we thought we were going down hill.
There is a value in perspective—in
getting outside of our business and
taking a look at it occasionally from
another angle. It may seem that
everything is continuously down when
as a matter of fact we may have
passed the low point and be on the
upgrade. Again, from the same view-
point no two men draw the same con-
clusions. What looks interesting and
important to one man may seem de-
stupid and valueless to the
One man looks out from a hill
and sees a beautiful golf course, while

cidedly

other.

another man sees a good farm gone to
waste. One man’s opinion may be as
good as another’s. All we can do
therefore is to tell what we see.
While the conclusions we draw may
not be correct ones, yet they may be
We are all interested
in getting as many angles on the pres-

of some value.

ent situation as possible, and perhaps
a little look back up hill may help
our outlook for the future.

A few
seemed no limit to business activity.

short months ago. there
We believed that years of destructive
war had reduced the quantity of need-
ed goods to a point where it would
take a long time for production to

reach consumption. A_ heavily >in-
flated currency explained the high
prices ruling and justified to our

ntinds their stability and continuance.
While there was heavy over-specula-
tion, the main factors which caused
the inflation were true and are still
true to an extent. There ts still, based
on the world’s demand, a heavy short-
age of 1any kinds of goods, and we
still have a highly inflated currency
While

heavy inflation of finance means i:1-

subscribe to the theory tha:

flated prices for commodities and mer-
chandise, the law does not seem to be
working very evenly just at this time.
We have had the most drastic liquida-
tion in the history of this country. The
time consumed in the process has been
very short indeed, yet the adjustment
has not entirely run its course.
Liquidation is unbalanced and out of
joint. Many commodities are being
sold at less than pre-war pri¢ces, while
others, notably those used in the
building trades, are still priced over
100 per cent above pre-war quotations.
And we can not reach a stable basis
until we have all commodities liquida-
ted to about the same basis, or com-
mercial equiblibrium, if you please. In-

*Paper read at convention Michigan
Retail Dry Goods Association by Fred-
erick J. Stockwell, Manager Edson, Moore
& Go., Detroit.

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

cluded in this list must be the liquida-
tion of labor.

What has happened to us is a com-
modities panic. Sharply breaking
prices on commodities were followed
by an adjustment of prices on prod-
ucts. I call it a commodity panic be-
cause it has been largely so far limit-
ed to commodities and their immediate
products, and a panic because there
has been no sound re1ison for such a
terrific depreciation. I do not sub-
scribe to the theory of the so-called
consumers’ strike, at least in the dry
goods trade. A volume of business at
retail maintained at the expected level,
up to last year since January 1 would
up to last. year since Jan. 1 would
make it very difficult to locate a con-
What we have had is
a buyers’ strike, and not the consum-
ing buyers’ strike. The purchasing

sumers’ strike.

agent at the textile plant stopped buy-
ing cotton, yarns or grey cloths; the
jobbing buyer stopped contracting
with the mills, and the retail buyer
closed his order books. This buyers’
attitude, combined with high money
rates and the activity of the press for
lower prices, turned the tide down-
ward.

When it was apparent that a big
price adjustment was under way, cur-
iously it was quickly discovered by
manufacturers, bankers and the press
that the liquidation was being delayed
by the retail dealer. It seemed clear
to the other fellow that retail prices
should be immediately readjusted to
a new low point, although at the time
but few manufacturers had adjusted
their prices, and many of them were
running their plants and shipping high
priced goods without adjustment.
Other manufacturers completed their
high priced orders and closed their
plants. Much injustice was done to
the retailer, as I believe he met the
situation as fast as it was put to him
in the practical way of lower prices,
and as fast as overstocks developed.
Prominent lines like percales were not
repriced from the top until the 15th
of November,
and cotton piece goods generally were
not repriced until the 3lst day of De-
There was no reason for the

ginghams, sheetings

cember.
retailer of dry goods who had taken
bought at high
prices, and whose business was run-

in his merchandise
ning equal to or ahead of the previous
year, cutting the
before

price on his mer-
chandise revisions. had been
made by the manufacturer, unless he
was overstocked. The volume of re-
tail business proves conclusively that
the retailer of textiles was not block
ing necessary adjustments, and the
fact that he has met his financial ob-
ligations in such remarkable shape
proves that he was not overstocked.

Liquidation in textiles has run from
50 to 70 per cent. on the products of
cotton, wool and silk, and this from
a point about four times higher than
The adjustment on
linens has not been so radical, but
now seems well under way. A stand-
ard print cloth has fallen from 26 to
634c; a 4 yard sheeting from 27c to 9c;
utility dress ginghams from 35c to 15c;
a 36 inch all wool serge from $1.10 to
50c; a 16 pound men’s ribbed union
suit from $21 to $10.50; mercerized
hosiery from $7.50 per dozen to $3.50;
full fashioned silk hosiery from $30 to

Pre-War prices.

$12.75; a 36 inch taffeta and a messa-
line silk from $2.40 to $1 per yard;
wide shirts and
have dropped about 50 per cent. These

from 50 per

sheetings, overalls
prices now ruling run
cent. to 100 per cent. above pre-war
prices. In this readjustment there
has been wiped out a very large extra
profit, also from 60 to 70 per cent. in
the price of the raw materials from
which these articles were made. The
largest factor of all in costs, however,
has been liquidated to the extent of
only 25 per cent. and in many cases

23

less than this. This factor is labor

[It seems fair to say that a correct
price based on the present adjusted
prices of commodities and labor to-
gether, should be about one-half from
the high after-war prices.

The manufacturers of cotton piece
goods went much further than this in
the reductions made in December and
January. They made an honest at-
tempt to price their merchandise so
low that there could be no further
revisions downward for a long time

at least. The irreducible minimum

 

 

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ck ae

 

24

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

March 23, 1921

 

was their goal. It seems to me that
the reductions made at that time went
as far as, if not farther than the con-
ditions warranted; for the prices
named were much more than 50 per
cent. below the high prices ruling last
year. This price condition was recog-
nized by the retailer and was shown
by the sharp demand for cotton piece
goods of all kinds during the first
two months of this year. This demand
continues unabated, and many lines
are in short supply. The retailer
bought freely because the goods were
priced correctly, and because there
was an immediate heavy consumer
demand for them.

There has been no sharp revival in
the demand for knit goods and gen-
eral merchandise even where the
prices were as law in proportion as
cotton piece goods or lower. The rea-
son for this was that stocks on hand
were larger in the hands of both the
wholesaler and the retailer. In addi-
tion the time or season had not ar-
rived for an active consumers’ de-
mand. I believe this demand for gen-
eral merchandise will be just as good,
when the season for it arrives. In
other words the business revival in
the various lines of the textile trade
will follow exa¢tly the normal sea-
sonable demand of the consumer.

Business so far this year has fol-
lowed the natural consumers’ demand
only. Production has not been in-
fluenced at all by what might be
called artificial demand, which is ex-
pressed in advance buying. This is
bound to develop in the near future
along what are called seasonable lines,
otherwise the goods in question will
not be made.

The price situation on textiles just
at this moment is complicated by the
continued and serious drop in raw cot-
ton. There is no doubt that we have
a larger cotton crop on hand than we
can consume or export, and the plant-
ing season for the new crop is just
ahead of our Southern friends. I will
not attempt to predict what the price
of cotton will be for the next 60 days.
It is bound to be affected by credit
conditions, by the amount exported
and by the acreage of the new crop,
the amount of fertilizers sold, and
other planting factors. For the long
future however cotton must be some-
what higher. It is undoubtedly way
under the cost of production to-day,
and labor in the production of cotton
is still unliquidated—in other words,
there is a large factor of labor in any
raw material, and over the long period
commodities must bring at least cost.

In any discussion of the price of raw
cotton and its future course I wish to
call attention to the fact that a still
further drop in raw cotton is a con-
stantly diminishing factor in the price
of its products.

A drop of four cents per pound in
the price of cotton only reduces the
price of a four yard sheeting one cent
per yard—30 per cent. in cotton, but
only 10 per cent. in the cotton cloth.
Therefore, it is clear that so long as
labor and manufacturing costs remain
at or near their present prices, the
price of the cotton cloth can only
diminish slightly even though the drop
in cotton is large. In products like
ginghams or wash fabrics where the
labor and manufacturing is a very

much larger percentage of the cost
than is the cost of the raw material,
a still further drop in cotton is a much
smaller factor in the costs of the prod-
uct in question than it is in a four
yard sheeting. When raw materials
were heavily over-priced they were a
big factor in the manufacturers costs
as he had to buy them at the high
prices ruling. At commodities pres-
ent panic prices however, they cease
to be the large factor in costs. The
prices of cotton piece goods during
the next sixty days may work a little
lower than at present; but there can
be no drastic changes, such as are be-
hind us, as there is no expectation or
indication of a rapid liquidation in la-
bor or manufacturing costs in textiles
at the present time.

What is true about cotton and cot-
ton goods is equally true about wool
and woolen goods, the difference be-
ing, however, that in the past few
weeks we have seen some advances on
raw wool. This has not been caused
by any indication of scarcity but by
the possibility that the new Congress
to be called in special session about
April 1 may by resolution give im-
mediate effect to the rates in the
Payne-Aldrich tariff bill of 1909. If
this should be done there will be some
sharp advances from the present low
prices ruling on wool dress goods. Al-
ready there is a distinct improvement
in the market. All American dress
goods are made at least in part of
Australian or foreign wools.

There have already been sustained
advances on broad silk. The price of
raw silk has been pegged in Japan by
the government at about 75 per cent.
above the low pre-war price. Manu-
facturers of silk goods were hit very
hard last summer by the terrific liqui-
dation in raw silk, and by the fearful
decline in prices of their stocks on
hand and in process. Many of them
are out of business, and the finished
goods are in very short supply.

During the past few days the manu-
facturers of knit goods are pricing
their products for fall delivery and at
the same time prices are being named
mn napped goods, blankets, etc. Out-
ing flannels have been revised down-
ward.about 6624 per cent. from the
top. Blankets can not be priced on as
low a basis as this. These are about
the first offerings which have been
made since the breakdown last fall,
and the manufacturers are making a
sincere effort to name prices at the
lowest possible point, prices which
will hold the balance of the year.
Their goal is also the irreducible mini-
mum. It will be absolutely necessary
for at least a measure of advance
business to be placed on these lines,
otherwise the merchandise will not be
manufactured and a serious shortage
will develop later in the year. The
manufacturers can not make enough
of these goods in the selling season to
supply the demand, and they will not
pile up large quantities of merchandise
unless a measure of sound business is
tendered to them.

I believe therefore that we are now
on ground reasonably sound and
stable. I do not mean by this that
there may not be other small adjust-
ments in the process of regaining
textile equilibrium. The big storm is

over and there are no treacherous
quicksands in the immediate fore-
ground. An eminent statistician has
estimatd that the dry goods trade is
so standard that no condition pos-
sible in this country over a period of
a year could cut into the volume of
the retail dry goods business over 15
per cent. A reasonably normal de-
mand at present prices seems assured
These prices are from 50 to 100 per
cent. above pre-war prices. The ex-
pected demand on this basis of price
is bound to show a volume of busi-
ness at retail very close to that of
1920. .~During the war and since, es-
pecially last year, the yardage and
dozens have been very much restrict-
ed. Already this year on the new
normal basis and on those lines which
are beginning to sell the yardage is
much larger than it was in 1920.

While I am optimistic about busi-
ness for the balance of this year, I
recognize that for the long pull and
over a long period cf time liquidation
is far from being complete. Econom-
ists all agree that there can be no
sound and stable basis for business
after such a disaster as we have passed
through, and after such a price dis-
turbance as we have experienced un-
til all the factors in the economic situ-
ation are readjusted to practically
equilibrium. At the present time we
see many commodities sacrificed way
below cost, many of them way under
pre-war prices, notably cotton, rubber,
copper, hides, and some grades of
wool. Other commodities are still
far higher than the pre-war basis.
Manufacturing costs are affected
heavily by high overhead and the in-
flated costs of late additions to their
plants and equipment. The return to
labor itself is still more than twice
what it was before the war, and this
is the largest factor of all. Com-
modities like cotton can not long be
sold at less than cost, as labor itself
is a big factor in the production of all
commodities. High living costs still
rule. Commodities alone and their
immediate products can not stand the
entire burden of the low prices. In
addition to this our war expenses are
still unpaid. There is a world-wide
depression in business, and enormous
currency inflation throughout Europe.
Foreign exchange is very low and
nothing in sight to bring it up to any-
where near normal. Our increase in
exports over imports, $445,000,000, in
January, can not continue; as_ this
business must be largely on credit.
There is of late a heavy decrease in
our imports, and how can Europe pay
unless she sells us her goods? The
conclusion therefore seems very clear,
that it will take a long time before we
can have an adjusted low basis fair to
all factors from which business can
go ahead as it did in other years.
Those things which have not been
liquidated must during this long per-
iod decline in price, while those de-
preciated commodities of the present
hour must be higher in price in the
near future even though the general
average will be lower over the long
period.

With all these facts and many others
before us how could we expect a re-
turn to normal for many years to
come? But during this long period

we are warranted in expecting much
good business in this country. There
is a world-wide shortage of needed
goods, and we have the goods and the
raw materials. We have the gold of
the world in our banks and our credit
is unimpaired, our merchants and
manufacturers have stood the drastic
test of liquidation in wonderful shape,
and are full of courage to go ahead—
labor is being~ steadily re-employed
and the demand for merchandise is
reasonably good. There will be many
ups in business even if the long pull
is downward; and it seems that we
are approaching one of the up periods
at the present time. This upward
movement must be led by a rise in the
price of commodities before this year
is over, and one of these important
commodities is cotton.

The next few years will be the time
when the turnover in merchandise will
be the most important factor in mer-
chandising. Possible market declines
are of but small importance to the
merchant who has a rapid turnover.
It is during these years to come that
the wholesaler can be of larger ser-
vice to the retailer than he has ever
been in the past. Those lines of con-
venience goods which the jobber can
distribute more economically, those
lines which belong to him, should be
bought of the wholesaler almost ex-
clusively. This will react as an ad-
vantage to the retailer.

The concrete question in all our
minds is, can we go ahead in our busi-
ness for a reasonable period an a rea-
sonably sate basis, and with a mini-
mum of speculation. It is quite pos-
sible that some prices will be a little
lower than at present in the next few
months; but there can be no change
of moment, no drops.
Prices can not be much lower in tex-

dangerous

tiles until there is a large liquidation
in labor. With cotton less than before
the war and much under cost, and
with labor and manufacturing costs at
twice the pre-war figure and with
the prices of products down to cost
or less, there can be only one answer.
Labor is not going to be liquidated
much further during the balance of
this year, therefore cotton and its
products must be higher before this
year is over, and we can go ahead
with reasonable safety.

suying, however, should not be af-
fected by any expectation of higher
prices, any more than it should be re-
frained from because prices might be
a little lower. Buying should be along
the line of our known wants, or our
reasonably expected demands. To
supply these demands we are war-
ranted in buying reasonably, not only
for immediate but for advance de-
livery. This policy rules in our own
business. We are buying freely for
any demand of any sort that develops
and we are buying reasonably our
known or expected wants for the fu-
ture. I believe it is just as sound to
buy reasonably now as it was to cut
out buying during last fall. If we
do not buy at least a portion of our
known wants there will certainly be a
very great shortage of many lines of
goods next fall; because the manufac-
turer can not carry the entire burden.
He will not make the goods unless he
has a fair amount of sound orders for
them. _

 

“We

 

 

~ ; Ae zener

 

March 23, 1921
STATE TAXATION.

How Our Present System Must Be
Changed.*

Taxation is a necessary condition of
organized society. Without taxation in
some form government, as now develop-
ed, could not exist. Taxation is the price
the individual pays for protection of his
person and property and for the benefits
of organized society. AS every individ-
ual requires and receives protection of
his person and as all property requires
and receives protection, taxation should
be universal and reach every individual
and all property. As taxation is a bur-
den necessitating sacrifice on the part of
the taxpayer, every system of taxation
should at all times conform to the prin-
ciple, ‘‘equality of burden.’’ Whenever
a System of taxation, for any cause,
ceases to conform to these fundamental
principles, it invariably works injustice,
and all good citizens should be concern-
ed with its amendment.. The history of
taxation, however, for centuries past, is
that of a ceaseless struggle of the differ-
ent economic classes of society to throw
the taxation burden from the shoulders
of their particular class to those of some
other class. Looking backward from the
standpoint of to-day, when taxation is
recognized as an indispensable condition
of society, it is difficult to appreciate
how keen has been this age-long war-
fare over taxation. The spirit that caus-
ed such warfare in the past is not ex-
tinct to-day; but in taxation, as in all
other great questions affecting human
rights, there has been continued progress
in both theory and practice toward great-
er realization of these fundamental prin-
ciples of taxation, ‘‘universality’’ and
“equality of burden.’ In these days,
without revolution, without warfare and
we change taxation laws and systems
without appeals to class interests when-
ever it can be clearly shown that, be-
cause of changed property conditions or
economic or social progress, the existing
system is no longer in harmony with the
fundamentals of taxation. Such a situa-
tion, I believe, confronts us to-day in
Michigan.

From Keweenaw to Monroe, from in-
dividual property owners in every walk
of life, from commercial, industrial and
agricultural associations, there is going
up a protest that taxation upon tangible
property has so increased in volume the
past few years as not only to be causing
hardship and suffering, but also to be
actually imperiling the very existence of
many as property owners. Those of you
who are in touch with actual conditions
do not need to be informed as to these
things. You have personal knowledge
of them. The fact that the owners of
certain forms of real estate—farmers and
home owners—have been the first to
protest and are now, perhaps, the most
pronounced in their protests against
present-day taxation is not because such
forms of property only are now suffer-
ing, or will, in the long run, suffer more
from high taxation than other forms of
tangible property, but because of what
may be declared an axiom in taxation—
that the least valuable, the most visible
and the most easily valued forms of
property are always, without intention
of so doing, the highest taxed; at the
same time the owners of such property
have the smallest per cent. of fluid as-
sets with -which to meet taxation and
therefore feel the hardship first. Wher-
ever assessment of all property has reach-
ed full cash value, all tangible property
whether real estate, machinery, live stock
or merchandise experiences the same de-
gree of hardship because of high taxa-
tion.

That this universal protest against
high taxation of tangible property is jus-
tified by existing conditions and is not
the result of a state of mind that ob-
jects to proper taxation, is quickly ap-
parent when we study the statistics of
taxation in our State for recent years.
In 2931 the total tax levy for all pur-
poses—State, county, school and municip-
al—under the general property tax was
$39,315,000. In 1917 it had increased to
$78,612,000, and in 1920 it reached the
huge total of $140,438,000, an increase in
ten years of 257 per cent. These figures,
it should be remembered, do not include
taxes upon public utilities paid into the
primary school fund, or automobile taxes
paid into the highway fund, or inheri-
tance taxes, or mortgage taxes, the total
of which for the year ending June 30,
1920 was $14,771,000. The average rate
of taxation per $1,000 assessed valuation
over the entire State for the year 1920
was $26.40. In forty-four counties the
average rate exceeded $30.00, in twenty
counties it exceeded $35.00, and in ten
counties it was over $40.00 per $1,000
upon an assessment practically at cash
value.

We have, as a State, been blind to this
tremendous increase in the volume of
taxation and have not individually felt
its full effects because of the tremendous
increase in the assessment of property
for taxation during the same period. In
1911 the total assessment of the State
was $1,898,000,000; in 1920 it had reached
$5,339,000,000, an increase of 180 per cent.
If the per cent. of increase in assessed
valuation had been the same for the
decade ending with 1920, as it was for
the previous decade, the average tax

*Paper read before the Michigan Re-
tail Dry Goods Association by Hon. O. F.
Barnes, of Lansing.

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 25

rate for the entire State the past year
would have been $61.95 for each $1,000
of assessed valuation. The assessment
of tangible property in Michigan has
practically reached full cash value, and
from now on increases in the assessed
valuation will, for the most part, come
from new property placed upon the as-
sessment roll. From the reports of the
field men of the State Tax Commission
and from personal observation, I am
convinced that the total assessment of
the State for 1921 will not be increased
to exceed $100,000,000 as against an in-
crease of $800,000,000 in 1920. Hereafter,
the full effects of continual increase in
the volume of taxation will be felt by
all tangible property unless our system
of taxation is materially amended.

Increased volume of taxation and, if
laws are not changed, high taxation of
tangible property have come to. stay.
The youngest individual in this company
will not live long enough to see the
volume of taxation materially less than
it is to-day, and unless there should be
a complete reversal of present-day ten-
dencies there will be further increase
for years to come. The forces that have
been compelling this increased volume of
taxation are industrial, economic and
social in their origin. They are not tem-
porary, but permanent and continuous in
operation. They are not losing vigor.
They cannot be controlled by individual
action.

Note how these forces have been stead-
ily enlarging the functions of State,
county and local government, compelling
these political units to take over, as
proper and necessary functions of gov-
ernment, groups of subjects relating to
public and private welfare that until a
few years ago were left to private initia-
tive and private philanthropy, or, if in
operation at public expense, functioned
only in a limited way. These subjects
relate to public health, public safety,
public comfort, child welfare, adult wel-
fare, community welfare, education, re-
creation, sanitation, organized charity
and any number of kindred subjects. No
one will live to see, or should wish to
see, these new functions of government
restricted. We are in a new orbit to-day
and one of the forces that will keep us
balanced in this new orbit is a continued
development in public and private welfare
through public expenditures, and_ this
means continued increase in the volume
of taxation.

Note also that this is an age of de-
velopment The State, the counties, the
smallest and most remote communities
have entered upon projects of develop-
ment and improvement especially with
respect to highways, — streets, parks,
schools, hospitals, public buildings and
public utilities that will call for increas-
ed millions for years to come. These de-
velopment projects—State, county and
municipal—almost invariably, are not
being financed by present-day taxation,
high as it may be, but by bond issues;
and in the future the interest on these
bonds, the principal as it matures and
the cost of maintenance and manage-
ment of the improvements themselves
must be added to the annual tax levy.
This era of development is just begin-
ning, not drawing to a close, especially
with respect to public utilities. More
than $50,000,000 in bonds will be voted
by municipalities this spring for public
improvements. It all means increased
volume of taxation.

Note also the demands the various
educational, charitable and criminal in-
stitutions are continually making upon
the State, the counties and the muni-
cipalities. These demands are not sim-
ply those made necessary by increasing
population, but they extend to new plants
and new equipment made necessary by
modern methods of construction, sanita-
tion and management, and to the estab-
lishment of new institutions demanded by
public and social welfare, and if refused
to-day they must be granted in the near
future. All this means continued in-
crease in the volume of taxation.

Note also how industrial development
is increasing the volume of taxation.
Note the cost to the public of automo-
bile development. It is largely responsi-
ble for the State-wide progress of high-
way improvement. It has increased the
cost of such improvement to five and six
times the cost when only horse drawn
vehicles used the highway. It has in-
creased the cost of maintenance in the
same ratio. The cost of public safety
and administration or justice has been
largely increased because of traffic police-
men, motorcycle squads, the recovery of
stolen machines and the combating of
new forms of crime. The automobile has
tremendously increased the facilities of
the sportsmen and the seeker after health
and recreation, but by so doing has put
an increased burden of expense upon the
highways in the more remote parts of
the State and upon the resources of our
streams, lakes and game fields, making
necessary increased appropriations for
the establishment and maintenance of
public parks and game refuges, and for
fire protection, game protection and the
propagation and distribution of game and
fish. All this means increased volume
of taxation.

There are many who connect increased
volume of taxation with waste, extrav-
agance or the high cost of living, and
look for a complete remedy through a
policy of retrenchment and economy.
Rigid economy, consolidation of boards,
centralization of control will accomplish
saving and, which is of equal importance,
give a more efficient administration. We

depending upon the ownership of real
estate, general merchandise and a com-
paratively small per cent. of industrial
property—all tangible, visible and easily

who are concerned as to the increasing
burden of taxation should give every
assistance to this new departure in State
administration. But such reforms can

affect only taxation for State purposes valued by the assessing officers. There
and that is barely 15 per cent. of the was practically no intangible property
total taxation; and no matter how effic- owned within the State. In those days

Michigan was a debtor State, the secur-
not check the social, industrial and eco- ities of her railroads and her lumber and
nomic forces that are continually extend- mining corporations, the mortgages upon
ing and expanding the functions of gov- her farms and homes, the notes of her
ernment, forcing development, and put- merchants, were all owned outside of the

ient the new agencies may be, they can-

ting increased demands on all publie ac- State. Wealth was evenly distributed.
tivities. Increased volume of taxation The range of investments was narrow,
has come to stay. and profits and surplus earnings were

Confronted with such conditions, what almost always reinvested in the business
system of taxation have we for provid- that produced them, and immediately ap-
ing needed revenue and, at the same peared upon the tax roll. The farmer

cleared another field or put up a building;

time, insuring “‘universality”’ and ‘‘equal- 1
the merchant added to his stock of goods

ity of burden” in taxation? An ad valor-

em general property tax administered at or built a home; the professional man
a uniform rate upon all property not and even the laborer put their earnings
specifically taxed or by law exempt; es- into a home or some form of real estate.
tablished eighty years ago, it has re- At the same time the volume of taxation
mained unchanged in principle during was small and caused little hardship. As

all these years and has been amended by long as these conditions continued, the
substituting specific taxation for ad general property tax responded to _the
valorem taxation in some cases where fundamental principles of ‘‘universality
ad valorem taxation has completely brok- and “equality of burden.” But a won-
en down. derful change has taken place in recent

The ability of ad valorem property tax- years in industry, in the character of
ation to reach and equitably tax property property and in economic and social con-
that is tangible and visible, such as real ditions, brought about mainly by inven-
estate, cannot be questioned, and in a tion and by the operations of the limited
commonwealth like ours no system of liability corporation with its accom-
taxation would be complete that did not panying secured debt feature, through
include a general property tax upon which an individual may invest in any
most forms of tangible property; but ad business wherever located and hazard
valorem general property taxation at a only his original investment. The result-
uniform rate fails absolutely when ap- ing commercial and industrial expansion
plied to most forms of intangible prop- has been almost beyond comprehension.
erty. Ad valorem general property The statement has been made, and I am
taxation of intangible property at a prepared to believe it, that the increase
rate uniform with that upon tangible in wealth in that part of Michigan south
property has always been a= failure of a line from Grand Rapids to Saginaw,

whenever and wherever attempted be- has been proportionately greater than in
cause the locating and valuing of such any other section of the United States of
property is always difficult and generally equal population. To-day agriculture is
impossible without the co-operation of no longer the principal industry. Prop-
the owner and that co-operation is rare- erty is no longer homogenous, but is

Income has tremen-
dously increased and is drawn from
sources that are worldwide. It is no
longer to any considerable extent rein-
vested in the business that produced it.

ly given. The owner justifies the con-
cealment of such property on the ground
that his certificates or securities are but
evidences of his participation in the own-
ership of tangible property already taxed

widely diversified.

 

or on the ground that the uniform rate but seeks investment in some form of
of taxation ($26.40 per thousand for 1920) intangible property and rarely goes upon
wold be confisecatory of income, as would the tax roll. You have but to glance

be the case with saving deposits and through the columns of any metropolitan
securities drawing a low rate of interest. newspaper or to note the circulars in
The experience of Michigan has been that your morning's mail to form some opin-
of every other State that has attempted ion as to the daily offerings of intangible
ad valorem property taxation of intangi- securities. The report of the Auditor
ble property, namely, that practically all General for the fiscal year ending June
such property, except such as in the 30, 1919, show that during that period
hands of the ignorant or helpless, escapes the mortgage tax was paid upon a valua-
taxation. Every writer on taxation con- tion of over $126,000,000 and also upon
fesses the failure of general property 23.600.000 of foreign bonds. When in
taxation to reach intangible property. connection with this total of $149,000,000
Justice Brewer. when a member of the we consider that during that period there
United States Court of Appeals, summed were tens of millions of dollars in land
contracts brought into existence and
millions of dollars of foreign bonds pur-

up the experience of the American States
with respect to ad valorem property tax-

ation of intangible property in this lan- chased on which this mortgage tax was
guage: ‘‘There is a monotonous uniform- not paid, and that tens of millions of

dollars were, during the same time, in-
vested in securities of Michigan origin,
and probably equally large amounts in
foreign stocks, we get some idea of the

ity in the reports of the failure of every
system attempted for reaching intangi-
ble property. However stringent may be
the legislation, or however arbitrary and

despotic may be the powers with which extent to which profits and earnings of
the assessors are clothed, the result is to-day that are fluid are passing into
that always and everywhere no appre intangible and non-taxable property. At

a public hearing before a legislative com-
mittee I made the statement that the
intangible wealth owned in Michigan, not

The lawmakers of Michigan have rec- counting securities of Michigan railroads,
ognized this failure. They have exempt- exceeded $3,000,000,000. Lam sure I made
ed from taxation the stocks and securi- an error in that statement. I have since
ties of Michigan corporations; they have re-figured the problem and I[ now declare
exempted mortgages on a single payment that our intangible wealth is nearer $4,-
of five mills; they have extended such 000,000,000 than $3,000,000,000, and cer-
exemption to all bonds, foreign and do- tainly reaches $3.500,000,000. Professor
mestic. Of all intangible property owned Friday of the State University, now as-
within the State they have left subject sisting Governor Groesbeck in tax legis-
to general property taxation only stocks

lation, has estimated Michigan intangible
of foreign corporations, money on de- wealth, not counting deposits in banks,

iable part of such intangible property is
reached by laws however ingeniously
framed or severely enforced.”

 

   

 

 

posit in banks, book accounts and un- at $3,000,000,000 and bank deposits exceed
secured notes and debts. $1,000,000, 000, Practically the only part

Failure to locate and tax intangible of this huge sum that is upon the tax
property made little difference in the rolis and directly and continuously con-
early days of Michigan when our taxation tributing to the support of the State and
system was established. At that time local government is bank stock. I have
agriculture was the principal industry. had the property upon the tax roll in

consisting some of the richest assessing districts

Property was homogenous, ) hi :
of the State classified and, excluding bank

mainly of real estate, personal property

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26

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

 

March 23, 1921

 

stock, I have never found intangible
property to constitute 2 per cent. of the
assessment. The total assessment of the
State of 1920 was $5,339,000,000. If my
computations are approximately correct,
intangible property constitutes 40 per
cent. of the total wealth of the State.
yet it is contributing less than 5 per cent.
of the total taxation.

The owners of this’ intangible wealth
enjoy, by reason of their ownership, large
income and most advantages and benefits
that ownership of tangible property con-
fers, but with a further advantage that
legislation and tax administration com-
bined make such_ property practically
exempt from taxation. There is a citi-
zen of Lansing who has for several years
paid a Federal income tax upon approx-
imately $30,000 net income, but his name
has never once appeared upon our tax
roll. <A citizen of Detroit recently made
the statement in the office of the State
Tax Commission that one of Detroit’s
wealthiest citizens not long ago received
a check for $30,000,000, that every dollar
of that large sum had since been invested
in intangible securities, and that the gen-
tleman’s present personal property as-
sessment, other than bank stock, was
less than $100,000. I am not blaming the
gentleman for making such investment,
it was good business on his part. I am
emphasizing the fact that intangible
property under our system of taxation
contributes directly little or nothing to
the support of government.

During this period, and partly as a
result of commercial and industrial ex-
pasion, a class of citizens has developed
in every Community whose income is not
drawn from capital, but from personal
effort, from salaries, from earnings as pro-
fessional men and from particular kinds
of business developed in recent years.
This class is increasing in numbers and
importance every year because of the
tendency of professional men to special-
ize in some features of their profession,
and because of the demands of the great
industrial corporations for KWgh-grade
assistants, and because consolidation of
industry is continually forcing individuals
out of the class of owners and taxpayers
to become salaried officers and managers
of what was their own business, their
former property interest is now repre-
sented by non-taxable securities. This
class of citizens enjoy incomes that would,
in many cases, if capitalized, represent
hundreds of thousands of dollars; they
are as a class well educated and require
more from society and government than
does the average citizen; but, because of
the source of their income and because
the tendency of this class is to invest
their surplus income in intangible secur-
ities, they contribute but little for the
support of government and for social
welfare.

During the period the functions of gov-
ernment have been expanding, the volume
of taxation increasing and the character
of property and industry changing, there
has been continuous narrowing in the
base sustaining taxation because of other
causes than failure of the ad valorem
general property tax to reach intangible
property. Cotemporaneous with the es-
tablishment of our taxation system we
began granting exemption from taxation
and we kept up the practice for eighty
years. The laws exempting property
from taxation are even now being con-
tinually added to and they have a ten-
dency to widen in administration, and
more and more to exempt property not
contemplated to be exempted by those
originally responsible for such legislation.

For many years the laws of the State
have exempted from all taxation bonds
of the State and the various subordinate
political units of the State. The holders
of such bonds naturally belong to the
class of citizens best able to pay taxes,
but the burden this particular part of
their property should bear is all trans-
ferred to tangible property.

The law also exempts so much of the
taxable credits of any taxpayers as can
be offset by debits without regard to
the character of the debit and whether
taxable or not. Through the mortgage
tax law we are continually creating debits
that are made non-taxable by a single
tax payment of five mills, yet such debits
can be used continuously year after year
to offset taxable credits. Again, debits,
both fictitious and real, are created for
the purchase of government bonds and
other non-taxable securities and these
debits are used as an offset against tax-
able credits. The narrowing in the base
of taxation through exemptions is meas-
ured by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Tax exemption violates the fundament-
al principles of taxation. Tax exemption
is wrong in theory and most frequently
benefits those best able to pay. Tax ex-
emption renders men indifferent to gov-
ernmental problems. Every proper pur-
pose aimed to be accomplished through
exemption from taxation could be ac-
complished in some other way. I charge
you who are bearing the burden of taxa-
tion to fight tax exemption as you would
a pestilence.

Legislation in no ways connected with
taxation frequently narrows the base of
taxation. The enactment of National and
State prohibition is an illustration of
this. Municipal ownership of public util-
ities is constantly and to an alarming
extent narrowing the base .of taxation.
When a public utility is privately owned,
all the tangible property of the corpora-
tion owning it appears on the tax roll
and also every extension made necessary
by increasing population or business.
When public utilities pass into municipal

ownership they drop from the tax roll,
and new construction is financed by
bonds, and earnings go into maintenance
and interest on bonds, and there is rare-
ly any surplus to reduce taxation. We
are not regretting prohibition or muni-
cipal Ownership—we are simply painting
out the effect such laws have upon the
base of taxation.

Failure of the general property tax to
reach and tax intangible property at the
present time when the volume of taxa-
tion has tremendously increased, when
intangible wealth constitutes 40 per cent.
of the total wealth of the State and is
increasing faster than any other form
of wealth and is absorbing the profits
and income of tangible property, togeth-
er with the rise of a salaried and pro-
fessional class who, in spite of their
numbers and importance, contribute lit-
tle to public revenues, has produced this
inevitable result: All the increased cost
of government and the increased tax bur-
den made necessary by industrial, social
and economic development falls upon
tangible property. Tangible property is
maintaining State and local government;
it is developing social and economic wel-
fare; it is constructing our highways,
Supporting our schools and paying the
cost of material developments; and it
must continue to do so until intangible
wealth is compelled to contribute a just
share for public purposes.

Changes in the character of property
and in the purposes for which txation is
now levied, and the shifting of the tax
tion burden upon tangible property has
not been unnoticed in the past, but all
efforts to remedy the situation have prac-
tically failed because of the provision
of our State constitution requiring a uni-
form rate of taxation, with specific taxa-
tion the only altenative. There are those
who would continue the system and en-
deavor through drastic amendments to
reach some considerable portion of in-
tangible property not now on the tax
roll. If we should continue such efforts,
what possible relief would result to tan-
gible property? In the first place, the
laws of our State exempt from taxation
the stocks of Michigan corporations
whose tangible property is taxed in the
State; therefore, the individual whose
intangible property is all of Michigan
origin would pay no direct tax regardless
of his wealth. Next, the mortgage tax
law makes all forms of secured debts
exempt from taxation on the payment
of a single tax of five mills. If this be
not repealed, the individual whose intan-
gible property has once paid the five mill
tax will, therefore, pay no direct tax.
If the law, or any part of it, be repealed
and more or less of such property
brought under the general property tax,
all present holders of such property on
which the five mill tax has been paid
would continue to be exempted and only
those who might buy foreign bonds in the
future would be subject to property tax-
ation, and with a tax rate of $26.40 per
thousand there would be no securities of
that character reported to the assessors.
There would remain subject to the gen-
eral property tax certificates of stock in
foreign corporations, deposits in banks,
unsecured debts and book accounts. The
difficulty of locating this class of prop-
erty would still remain. We cannot take
from the owner the state of mind that
justifies concealment, nor can we destroy
the opportunities for concealment. TI can
see little permanent relief to the holders
of tangible property from the most suc-
cessful administration of the ad valorem
general property law than can be reason-
ably expected.

How then shall we remedy these con-
ditions, how broaden the base of taxa-
tion, how introduce ‘universality’? and
“equality of burden” into our taxation
system and compel intangible property
to bear a just share, and, at the same
time, increase our revenues to meet the
new social and economic conditions?

By frankly confessing the failure of
general property taxation to reach in-
tangible property. By following the ex-
ample of other states that have had the
same problem to solve and the same ex-
periences in attempting to solve theirs.
By recognizing that the most universal,
the most complete, and the most accurate
measure of the ability of an individual
to pay personal taxes is his ‘‘net income,”
and that taxation based on ‘‘net income’’
is the fairest, the most equitable and the
least oppressive system of taxation as
yet devised and the only one that will
reach intangible property and_ those
whose property is by law exempt from
general property taxation.

The first objection that will be made
against income taxation will come from
those who have had experience with the
Federal income tax and do not know the
comparative simplicity of State income
taxation as developed in Wisconsin,
Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and
other states, and the facility and ease
with which it is there administered. The
Federal income tax is new legislation,
designed to collect a very large revenue
made necessary by war time expenditure
of the government. It does not displace
any existing taxation; it does not supple-
ment any existing taxation; it is not de-
signed to equalize taxation: it is a rev-
enue measure purely and because of that
is loaded down with excess profit taxes,
high surtaxes and many features of ad-
ministration that are exacting in char-
acter and annoying to the taxpayer. State
income taxation, on the other hand, is
proposed as a substitute for that part
of our present taxation system which has
failed in operation Its purpose is ‘“‘equal-

 

ization of taxation,’ not “increased taxa-
tion.’’ The same amount of revenue must
be raised throughout the State whether
we have an income tax or not, but any
part of such revenue raised through in-
come taxation will come very largely
from those escaping all taxation, the
owners of intangible property, the owner
of ‘“‘tax exempt securities,’’ and those
who draw income from personal effort.
The proposed State income tax should be
so simple in its provisions that the aver-
age citizen could quickly and correctly
determine at any time the amount of his
payment under it. The general form a
State income tax should take to meet the
requirements of simplicity, and facility
and ease of administration may be sum-
marized in the following formula:

Require every person domiciled in the
State having ‘taxable ability,” that is,
“able to pay,”’ to pay a direct personal
tax, net income to be the measure of
his “‘ability to pay,’ the adoption of such
principle, as a constituent part of our
taxation system, to be accomppanied by
the abolition of all general property tax-
ation upon intangible property.

Levy such tax upon the taxpayer's net
income from all sources within or with-
out the State, except income from United
States bonds and salaries as Federal of-
ficials.

Require from a non-resident of the
State a direct personal tax upon that
portion of his net income earned within
the State, granting to such non-resident
the same exemption as might be granted
to a resident of the State.

Make the rate of taxation the same for
all kinds of income regardless of the
source from which derived, this rate to
be graduated or progressive, not propor-
tional.

Allow a deduction from gross income
of expenditure for certain specified pur-
poses in determining net income.

Eliminate as unnecessary features ex-
cess profit taxes, high surtaxes, and col-
lection at the source, and make the rates
progressive starting with 1 per. cent.
upon the smallest taxable incomes and
limit the progression to six, or at the
most, 8 per cent. upon the largest in-
comes.

Administer the income tax through
State officials to whom taxpayers should
make enforced reports of income and to
whom they should pay their income tax.

The test of exemption from the income
tax to be “cost of collection’? and apply
a poll tax to those whose personal income
would be so small as to exempt them
by reason of ‘“‘cost of collection.

The second objection will come from
those who believe or profess to believe
this proposed income taxation to be class
legislation, designed to discriminate
against individuals of large wealth and
in favor of those who live in the rural
communities of our State. The man who
will cry ‘‘soak the rich’? and justify his
approval of any economic or social pro-
gram solely on such ground is not, in
the last analysis, a good citizen, and
the same is true of the man who refuses
to give proper consideration to a sug-
gested reform because charges of dsi-
crimination are made. Similar charges
have many times been made use of. to
impede social and economic reforms and
they will be used against taxation re-
form. But I challenge those who make
such charges to show a fractional part
as much injustice and discrimination re-
sulting from a properly framed ‘‘State in-
come tax’’ as is now being accomplished
by the “general property tax.” <A “gen-
eral property tax’’ at a uniform rate ab-
solutely and invariably places the owners
of intangible property in a class by them-
selves, practically exempts them from
direct taxation and places an undue pro-
portion of the burden of government and
the cost df social and economie progress
upon those who are least able to bear
such burdens. To endeavor to obstruct
or delay taxation reform by representing
that it is one class of the population only
that demands it or will profit by it, is
false. It is not the farmer alone who
demands relief from high taxation but
the home owner, the owner of business
property and the owner of personal prop-

black and white.

erty; in fact, every owner of tangible
property. Whenever income taxation re-
lieves the farmer of one dollar of his
taxation burden, it must relieve the other
owners of tangible property in the same
proportion. To equalize taxation and do
away with discrimination is the true pur-
pose of income taxation.

It was charged at a hearing in Lansing
on the auestion of an amendment to the
constitution so as to allow income taxa-
tion that the establishment of an income
tax would drive capital from our State.
In this connection IL would eall attention
to the fact that states which are parti-
cularly the home of capital, such as New
York and Massachusetts, are among those
that have adopted income taxation and
the result has not been as charged. In
Wisconsin, for illustration, the revenue
under the income tax increased from $4,-
£15,000; In 1994 to: 311, 784.000° in: L917,
without any charge in the rates of taxa-
tion. This certainly did not indicate that
capital is-being driven from that State.
The most efficient method for driving
capital from our State would be the suc-
cessful enforcement of our general prop-
erty tax on all forms of intangible prop-
erty. Our tax law requires the taxation
of all such property, even bank deposits
and book accounts. Suecessfully enforec-
ed, our present law would absolitely pre-
vent savings deposits, as the interest for
an entire year would barely pay the pres-
ent tax, 2.64 per cent. It would reduce
the average return from investments
upon all intangible property more than
2% per cent., a condition that would
absolutely prevent investment in such
securties. The only rational, position
for the man who fears for capital is to
plead for absolute exemption of intangi-
ble property from all taxation. The ad-
vocate of income taxation also pleads for
the abolition of all other taxes upon in-
tangible property, when income taxation
is established.

The justice and equity of a graduated
income tax is shown by the fact that it
conforms at all times and for all classes
tO the principle of “ability to pay.’ it
not only relieves those with little prop-
erty from heavy burden, but also, in the
ease of those with large wealth, it re-
sponds to the variations in individual
conditions that occur with all citizens

 

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from year to year. An individual may be
highly prosperous one year and have
little income the next without any ap-
parent change in the amount of prop-
erty owned. The general property tax
under such conditions is merciless in its
exactions. The income tax never con-
fiscates property. The general property
tax confiscates thousands of descriptions
of property every year.

The justice. and equity of the income
tax is further shown by the fact that it
reaches officials, professional men and
those conducting certain lines of busi-
ness who escape very largely the general
property tax. Of Such it is the truth
to say that their incomes are compara-
tively large, they live in comfort and
enjoy the protection and benefit of gov-
ernment and society. They are as a class
well educated and well informed, but by
reason of their comparative immunity
from taxation they have little concern as
to public business. The bringing of this
class into the group of taxpayers may be
a distinct gain from other standpoints
than revenue.

State income taxation is a rational ef-
fort to put into practice the principle,
that every citizen should contribute
through direct personal taxation to the
support of government in proportion to
his ‘ability to pay.”’ Absolute ‘equality
of burden’ in taxation is impossible of
attainment, but relative equality can be
brought about if we consider not simply
the benefits received through taxation,
but also the sacrifice that must be made
by the individual in paying taxes and
endeavor to so adjust taxation as to re-
quire from each taxpayer the same de-
gree of sacrifice, and this can be done
only through a progressive or graduated
income tax.

State income taxation, applied to in-
come from whatever source received, is
recognition of the principle, that the
obligation of every citizen to contribute
to the support of State and local govern-
ment should not be affected by the form
his investments take. By taxing all in-
come, we prevent intangible’ property
in general and tax exempt bonds in par-
ticular from becoming a refuge against
taxation for those of large wealth.

State income taxation recognizes that
general property taxation of intangible
property is a farce, in spite of the fact
that such property under the law should
contribute equally with other property,
and it provides the only way by which
any tax can be collected from the own-
ers of a large proportion of such prop-
erty.

A personal income interferes very little
with industry or business and affects the
cost of living less than almost any other
tax that is levied, and it cannot be passed
On.

State income taxation makes for great-
er “universality” in taxation. In the
State of New York last year 144,000 wom-
en paid a State income tax. The com-
bination of a general property tax upon
tangible property, an income tax to reach
intangible property, and a poll tax for
those with incomes so small as to be
exempt from the income tax, would bring
about the greatest ‘‘universality”’ of tax-
ation and ‘equality of burden,” and
would interest in the operations of gov-
ernment many who, by reason of being
tax exempt now, give little thought to
government problems.

Income taxation will enable us to pay
all the expenses of State government
from that source, thus doing away with
a State tax and allowing a complete sep-
aration of State and local revenue. There
would then be no~ need of an annual
equalization of valuations between the
various counties of the State. We would
have the ideal situation, no taxation for
State purposes, no equalization of county
valuations, all taxes voted by local au-
thority, and the taxpayer in situation to
locate absolutely the responsibility for
high taxation and able to reach the guilty
parties directly through his influence and
his vote. So important have the officials
of our State considered separation of
State and local revenue, that a few years
ago we appointed a “‘committee of en-
quiry’’ to see if our tax laws could be
so changed as to bring about such a sep-
aration; but State income taxation had
not then been developed and no solution
was found. To-day, a State income tax
is recognized as the only method for
accomplishing such a purpose. Since I
accepted your invitation to discuss this
question, the State Tax Commission has
received the annual report of the State
of North Carolina and a leading feature
of that is, that North Carolina proposes
to make entirely distinct and independent
State and local revenue through an in-
come tax.

It is sometimes charged that an income
tax is expensive to collect, and at the
hearing in Lansing before the legislative
committee the statement was made that
in the State of Massachusetts the cost
was 50 per cent. of the amount collected.
I am utterly at sea as to the source of
such information. The annual report of
the Massachusetts State Tax Commission
gives the cost of collecting over $14,500,-
000 State income tax in that State last
year as 2.15 per cent., less than one-
twentieth of the cost publicly stated by
one of those who appeared to oppose an
income tax for Michigan. The Chairman
of the State Tax Commission of Wiscon-
sin, in charge of the collection of the
Wisconsin State income tax, states that
in 1919 the cost of collecting the Wis-
consin State income tax was at the
rate of 1.7 per cent. of the amount col-
lected. A letter received by one of our

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

State Tax Commissioners from Con-
gressman Fordney states that it cost but
55 cents per $100 to collect the Federal
income tax and that covered all items
of internal revenue.

I'ractically all political economists rec-
ognize the justice and equity of income
taxation. Individuals who oppose it gen-
erally do so on the ground that it fails
in practical operation, that it is socialistic
in character and a tax on brains, energy
and industry. Those who declare it to
have failed in administration have in
mind the attempts at State income taxa-
tion made many years ago. The failure
of those early attempts was due to the
fact that they did not attempt a general
income tax but levied a tax upon income
from particular sources. Their failure was
also due to the utter inefficiency of ad-
ministration, which was in the hands of
local officials. In respect to both legisla-
tion and administration, those early at-
tempts at income taxation are no more
to be compared to the modern State in-
come tax systems than the old street cars
drawn by horses or mules are to be com-
pared to modern municipal transporta-
tion systems.

The argument that the income tax is
socialistic in character is also a favorite
one. The charge might be true if the
avowed purpose or actual result of such
form of taxation was to bring about eco-
nomic results, such as more even dis-
tribution of wealth or confiscation of
private property, but such is neither the
purpose nor the result. The equalization
of sacrifice imposed by taxation is as nec-
essary to exact justice as is the granting
of equal rights and equal opportunity.
Other tax laws are equally open to this
charge, especially inheritance taxes. We
shall not run from taxation reform be-
cause someone cries ‘‘socialistic.’? We
believe just and equitable taxation one
of the greatest bulwarks that can be
raised against socialism and the other
“isms” that are bothering the people of
to-day because it is, as John Sherman
Says, the most just, the most equitable,
the least inquisitorial and injurious of all
taxation.

It is the culmination of the age-long war-

State income taxation has come to stay.
fare against fiscal injustice. In making
it a part of the taxation system of Mich-
igan, we will not be venturing upon un-
known ground. Twelve of the common-
wealths making up the United States
have adopted State income taxation in
some form. Wisconsin was the first to
adopt income taxation, which she did in
1911. Her laws tax the income of both
individuals and corporations. Oklahoma,
Connecticut and West Virginia followed
in 1914. The Connecticut and West Vir-
gina laws apply to the income of cor-
porations only. The Massachusetts in-
come tax law passed in 1916 and was
aimed especially at income from intangi-
ble property received by residents of the
State. In 1919 Massachusetts extended
income taxation to net income of do-
mestic and foreign corporations derived
from business done within the State. In
1917 New York, Montana, Missouri and
Delaware adopted income taxation. The
New York and Montana laws of that year
applied only to corporations. In 1919 New
York State extended income taxation to
the income of all residents of the State,
whether earned within or without the
State, and to the income of non-residents
earned within the State. The Missouri
law taxes all income of residents and so
much of the income of non-residents and
corporations as is derived from sources
within the State. The Delaware law ex-
tends only to the income of residents. In
1919 New Mexico, North Dakota and Ala-
bama passed income tax laws. The in-
come tax of New Mexico applies to per-
sons, firms, corporations and associations
doing business within the State. At the
present time Arizona, Utah, Minnesota,
North Carolina and Louisiana have in-
come taxation under consideration and in
some of those States both political par-
ties are pledged to support such form
of taxation. It will therefore be possi-
ble for Michigan, should she adopted in-
come taxation, to combine the best feat-
ures of the systems of all those states.
We also have suggestions for a model
income taxation system prepared by a
committee that includes such men as
Prof. Seligman, Prof. Bullock and Prof.
T. Ss. Adams.

In this discussion I have argued the
justice and equity of income taxation
with particular reference to the personal
income tax, and I have pointed out that
such tax should be mildly progressive,
should apply to all income, and that the
rate should be the same regardless of the
source of the income. The method for
taxing the income-cof business is one re-
garding which there is diversity of opin-
ion. The income tax laws of the various
states differ widely with regard to cor-
porations. It is argued by some that
corporate income would all be taxed by
the personal income tax when it had
passed into the hands of individuals,
even though distributed to non-residents
of the states. The repeal of all taxation
upon tangible property, the relief that
would come to the tangible property of
corporations through the operations of
the personal income tax, the absence
from our tax system of any provision
for taxing excess corporate values, the
elimination of any suggestion of an
excess profit tax, and, above all, the de-
mand for increased revenue for both
State and local purposes, all argue for
the taxation of the income of corpora-
tions. Taxation of business has been at-
tempted in many ways; by license, by

taxes upon gross business, by taxes upon
capital stock, and by taxes upon net
income. The State of Michigan is at this
time confronted with an emergency that
must be met and, because of the limita-
tions of our constitution, there is prac-
tically but one way for meeting the
emergency, some form of specific taxa-
tion upon corporations. The Governor
of the State and Professor Friday are
now at work upon this problem and the
solution which they arrive at for meet-
ing the emergency may or may not be
intended as a permanent feature of our
taxation system. If corporations are to
be taxed, they have the same right as
individuals have to be equitably taxed,
and this, from my standpoint, would re-
quire that they also be taxed on the
basis of net income. Income taxation
applied to corporations should, in some
respects, differ from the method of tax-
ing personal incomes. In the first place,
it should be levied only on net income
earned within the State; second, the rate
should be a flat rate, the same for all
corporations, and not graduated or pro-
gressive. The reason for this is appar-
ent. <A corporation with a large invested
capital would naturally earn a numerical-
ly large income; a corporation with a
small capital would naturally show num-
erically smaller earnings, yet the relation
of net income to invested capital might
be relatively higher in the case of the
numerically smaller income. A tax upon
net income of corporations should be in
lieu of all taxation upon its intangible
property and of all other business taxes.
———_~->-~—-
Prosperity and Bad Bargains.
Those business men who have been
taking too gloomy a view of the coun-
try’s industrial prospects and have
canceled orders in violation of con-
tracts and of business ethics have
been given sound and notable advice.
The practice of contract cancellation
has assumed serious proportions, and
many prominent men of affairs have
solemnly
Roger W.

publicist, has attracted wide attention

protested against it, but

Babson, statistician and

by pointing out the inexpediency of
the injurious tendency. Cancellation
is not only undesirable morally, but
it is short sighted.

He quotes Abraham Lincoln’s re-
mark to an audience of
men in 1857:

distressed
“If you have made a
bad bargain, hug it all the tighter.”
If everybody who finds that his con-
tract has become a bad bargain, owing
to the sharp decline in prices,. will try
hard to stick by his contract, the bur-
den and loss will be so widely and
evenly distributed that the bargain
will turn out to be far less adverse
than they now seem.

Credit is the foundation stone of
modern business, and good faith is
A resolute
policy of good faith and justice will
bring business back to a normal and
sound basis.

the foundation of credit.

Already an improvement
in the industrial situation is making
itself felt.
or returning to full time schedules.

Factories are re-opening

The consumers’ strike is ending or at
least is apparently about to end. For-
eign trade continues to be active.
Prosperity 1s ahead of America if
everybody will do his part, carry his
own burden, take a loss if necessary
and face the future with remarkable
confidence. The cancellation of or-
ders and repudiation of contracts
should stop.
>
Hasty Gathering of Riches.

Substance is mentioned in the first
book of the Bible, also riches and
wealth. In the very beginning man
sought “useful or agreeable things
which possess exchangeable value,”
“these things and those things only
which are transferable, are limited in
supply, and are directly or indirect-
ly productive of pleasure or preven-
tive of pain,’ to quote two definitions
of wealth. The desire for those things

27

is, always has been, and probably al-
ways will be, a dominant influence in
the minds of men—which is equiv-
alent to saying that the desire is na-
tural, and therefore ineradicable.
Bacon says riches are the baggage
of virtue and the most of the ways to
enrich are foul. Solomon, an ancient
authority on the subject, advises men
to beware of hasty gathering of rich-
es, because “he that maketh haste to
be rich, shall not be innocent.” There
is another fact about sudden wealth
which makes it hazardous. The
proper management of large resources
requires education in their uses. This
training comes in their gradual ac-
cumulation. It is no exaggeration to
say that of a dozen men suddenly en-
dowed with great properties, scarcely
one would be found fit to conserve or
use them wisely either for his own
good or that of his community.
Wealth brings many obligations. It
is in a very real sense a trust. Its
owner cannot take it away with him,
and there is danger, if he does not
distribute it wisely when he comes
to his end, that it may become a curse
to those he leaves behind. A com-

prehensive study of the families of

many very rich men will go far to-
ward fastening the conviction upon
the student that moderate substance
is better for the majority than great

possessions.

 

The Tax
Ghost

ANY a tax return, be-
cause of inaccuracies in
technical procedure or down-
right errors of compilation,
comes back to haunt the tax

payer.

The Revenue Department
then demands clear explana-
tions as to how the taxable
income was determined and
the tax liability ascertained.

When tax returns are prepar-
ed under the careful guidance
of those experienced in tax
matters, such inaccuracies or
errors are provided against,
and the haunt of future ex-
planations entirely avoided.

 

Seidman & Seidman
Accountants and Tax Consultants
GRAND RAPIDS
SAVINGS BANK BLDG.

New York

Washington
Newark

Jamestown

Chicago
Rockford

 

 

We are manufacturers of

Trimmed & Untrimmed HATS
for Ladies, Misess and Children,
especially adapted to the general
store trade. Trial order solicited.

CORL-KNOTT COMPANY,

Corner Commerce Ave. and
Island St.
Grand Rapids, Mich.

 

 

 

 

 

MICHIGAN

TRADESMAN March 23, 1921

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michigan Poultry, Butter and Egg Asso-
ciation.
President—J. W. Lyons, Jackson.
Vice-President—Patrick Hurley, De-
troit.
Secretary and Treasurer—Dr. A. Bent-
ley, Saginaw.
Executive Committee—F. A. Johnson
Detroit; H. L. Williams, Howell; C. J.
(handler, Detroit.

 

 

How California Prune Growers
Handle Their Crops.

In 1856 a Frenchman, Louis Pellier,

brought two prune trees to this coun-

try and planted them near San Jose,

in Santa Clara county California.
These grew; other plantings were
made; slowly an industry had its be-

ginning. In the early seventies prunes
began to be shipped commercially to
the states West of the Mississippi; in
1896 a tariff of two cents per pound
was placed on foreign prunes imported
into this country, thus protecting the
little new industry of California. And
to-day California produces 90 per cent.
of all the dried prunes and apricots
the United States and
Canada, with an output of something
like 200,000,000 pounds per annum.

More than half the prunes grown
in the whole United States are pro-
duced in the Valley of the Santa Clara.
Here is located what is perhaps the
largest deciduous fruit house in the
world, packing in different years, ac-
cording to size and quality of the
fruit, from 500 to 900 carloads, all
sorted and boxed by experienced
hands and shipped to almost every
corner of the globe—China, Europe,
South America, South Africa, and so
on,

consumed in

In the last days of March or early
April the Santa Clara Valley looks
like a vast snowfield glistening in the
sun—a hundred and twenty-five square
miles of vineyards and trees in snow
white By late August or
early September these blossoms have
turned into the ripened fruit: earth
and sun and air have completed their
wonderful work. Not even now does
man disturb the completion of this
work, for the prune is permitted to
ripen and fall from the tree. It is
never picked, as these last few days
on the tree so largely increase the su-
gar content and hence the value.
These prunes may lie on the ground
a week or even a bit longer before
the women and children come in with
basket and pail and begin to pick
them up and fill the empty boxes in
which the teams haul them through
the orchards. Usually, the ground is
picked over three times before the end
of the season. At the last picking the
trees are shaken to bring down all
the fruit.

From the orchard the prunes are
hauled to the dipper and drying
ground. First they go to the dipper,
an iron tank containing about five
pounds of lye to 100 gallons of water,

blossom.

which is kept boiling hot.
are

The prunes
dipped into this tank for about
thirty seconds by means of a wire
basket or revolving drum. Following
removal they are passed under a wire
screen with strong jets of clean cold
water flowing on them, and washing
off all sediment and lye-watr. They
are then spread on trays measuring
three by eight feet, ready for the dry-
ing ground. The hot lye bath, by the
way, has slightly broken the skin of
the prune, so that the moisture may
the more easily escape in the drying
process.

Again the rays of the sun are called
upon, for prunes are dried solely by
the sun, taking from five to ten days
for the completion of this phase. The
drying grounds may be twenty or
thirty acres in extent. At times there
are spread out upon these fields
twenty to thirty thousand trays, con-
taining some 2,000,000
which when ready for the
market would be valued at almost a
quarter of a million dollars.

pounds of
prunes,

3ins in the grower’s fruit-house
serve to store the sun-cured fruit un-
til it can be sacked and delivered to
the packing house. Some seasons,
when deliveries can be made prior to
September 30, a premium of one cent a
pound is paid and deliveries are made
direct from drying ground to packing
house. During the last days of Sep-
tember and until the time limit has
expired, day and night, a continuous
line of trucks and farm wagons un-
load the new dried prunes at the pack-
ing house door. Here they are weigh-
ed and tested and then emptied from
the sacks on to the carrier which takes
them to the grader. The floor of this
carrier is perforated with holes, and
is kept continuously vibrating for the
purpose of sifting out dirt and sticks.
From the carrier the prunes are em-
ptied on to thé grade proper.

In the twin grader there are two
parallel streams of prunes flowing
over metal screens that are perforated
with holes of increasing size as the
prunes progress. As the prunes pass
along the perforated screen the small
sizes drop through first and the larger
ones pass on until they too find an
opening of sufficient size to fall
through to the bin below. By the
time the stream has reached the end
of the grader, all prunes have dropped
through and have been graded accord-
ing to size. From these bins wheel-
barrows deliver the prunes to the pro-
cessor. The grading determines the
size and hence the price to the grower.

The “processor” prepares the grad-
ed fruit for packing. It is boiled or
steamed for about three minutes, then
run over a screen to drain, and while
still warm is emptied into the box or
carton, weighed, and the lid clamped

 

We Sell

E We Buy We Store
GGS

GGS GGS
WHOLESALE

Butter, Eggs «» Cheese

We are always in the market to buy fresh Eges, Number
One Dairy and Packing Stock Butter, Etc.

WE SELL Egg Cases and Egg Case Material.

Our Warchouse is a public institution soliciting the
patronage of all. We store your products for your ac-
count and guarantee proper temperatures.

Write us for Rate Schedules or other information.

Kent Storage Company
Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

 

MILLER MICHIGAN POTATO CO.

Wholesale Potatoes, Onions
Correspondence Solicited

Frank T. Miller, Sec’y and Treas.

Wm. Alden Smith Building
Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

 

SEND US ORDERS

FIELD SEEDS

* WILE HAVE QUICK ATTENTION

Pleasant St. and Railroads

Both Phones DI Moseley JU: others, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

 

 

The Best Known

and
Known as the Best

The Vinkemulder Company
WHOLESALE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
GRAND RAPIDS t-! MICHIGAN

 

 

 

Stock Purity Nut

Recommend
It To Your Customers

Every pound of Purity Nut is
Guaranteed to Satisfy

PURITY NUT MARGARINE

The Purest Spread for Bread
Packed 10 and 30 Ib. cases 1 Ib. cartons

 

 

M. J. DARK & SONS
Sole Distributors in Western Michigan Grand Rapids, Mich.

With a full line of all Seasonable Fruits and Vegetables

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 23, 1921

on by a high pressure nailing machine.
The boxes of fruit are carried to the
freight car waiting on the siding.

Apricots are similarly packed ex-
cept that the pit is removed and that
they are not put through the “proces-
sor.”

The Italian prune is grown in Ore-
gon to the extent of some 25,000,000
pounds per annum. This prune has a
tart flavor and is sold to a restricted
class of buyers, the Jewish population
of our large American cities buying a
large portion of this crop.

Three and a half years ago—May l,
1917—a prune and apricot growers’
association came into being, purport-
ing to operate a non-profit selling
agency which should be strictly co-
operative, cent of
profit over and above actual cost of

returning every
operation to the growers whose or-
chards produced the fruit.

When we know that California pro-
duces some 200,000,000 pounds of dried
prunes annually, or 90 per cent. of all
the prunes and apricots consumed in
the United States and Canada, and
that, prior to May 1, 1917, the mar-
keting of this entire crop was domin-
ated by
group of

a very small but powerful
independent who

year after year had forced the grow-

packers

ers to sell for barely enough to buy
themselves living necessities, we real-
ize why the organization came into
being. This association has proven a
wonderful experiment in co-operative
marketing, scoring a success that has
To-

day the association has a membership

been little short of phenomenal.

of 10,000 growers, operates 37 large
packing houses, and has established
more than 250 selling agencies in the
United States alone, with more than a
score located in foreign cities where
markets are being developed for the
large crop a few years from now.
G. Orb,

—_—__»+-«. —___
Japan Determined To Control the
Pacific Ocean.

Grandville, March 22—Secretary of
the Navy Denby is right in his in-
sistence that the United States con-
tinues to build naval ships, but it is
even more important that the air ser-
vice be looked after and attended to,
since one nation of the Eastern world
at least is going into the buying and
manufacture of bombing seaplanes on
a surprisingly large scale.

Our next war, and one that may
come before half the American peo-
ple are awake to the danger, is to be
with Japan. Events are all tending
to such an outcome and it behooves
Uncle Sam to be up and ready, with
his fighting togs on at a moment’s no-

tice. However much the Yankee Na-
tion dislikes to engage in war, and
however unwelcome hostilities with

even Mexico would be, we must meet
the inevitable and be prepared for the
worst.

That Japan has become a formid-
able power during the last decade
needs no avowal here. Her war with
Russia set her high in the ranks of
the big ations of the world.
Throughout the world war she played
a waiting part, yet had an eye out to
the main chance, as witness Yap, and
other territory on the mainland of
Asia. :

The news comes direct that France
has been manufacturing bombing sea-
planes for Japan. These have been
through small orders here and there
in order to seem inconsequential, but
when added together constitute a tre-
mendous output. The smallness of
the orders at different factories was
calculated to blind even the French
to the fact that the Eastern nation was

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

buying in such large quantities. The
fact has come to the surface that
Japan is buying in rapidly increasing
quantities, and that to-day there is a
constant shipment of these seaplanes
from the Mediterranean ports.

It is estimated that Japan will soon
have the greatest fleet of bombing sea-
planes in the world. What does this
mean? Against whom are the engines
of war to be used? Not against Eng-
land, whose ally she is. Not against
France, from whom she is making
these prodigious purchases of modern
war birds. Against what other nation
in the world but ours is this prepara-
tion being made?

Recent London reports told of the
Japs engaging a squadron of veteran
British flyers at large salaries to enter
the Japanese air service as instructors.

The Japanese are assembling a great
fleet of sea bombing planes to secure
to themselves the mastery of the Pa-
cific. They are being assembled for
the undoubted purpose of being used
against the American fleet or against
the Philippines, Hawaii or Panama.
It is understood that battleships must
be protected against air attack, just
as they must be protected from under
water attack.

The American fleet is not so pro-
tected and the Government is doing
nothing along that line of defense.

If it be true that a fleet unprotected
from air attack can be destroyed, as
some experts contend, then Japan,
with this great fleet of seaplanes, has
the Yankee fleet completely at its
mercy, even though its own water
fleet is inferior to ours.

The relations between Japan and
the United States are strained. While
Japan is making extensive prepara-
tions to gain the mastery of the Pa-
cic, we are doing nothing. The
Philippines are one of the weak points
in our armor. Japan doesn’t want us

there; the Filipinos do not want us
there, and, im tact, a sreat many

Americans believe that a longer ten-

antcy of those islands bodes ill and
only ill for the United States.
Japanese in this country say that

Hawaii is not a white man’s country.
It is, in Asiastic opinion, a brown or
yellow man’s country, and the time is
not far distant when the question of

which is to rule there will be put to.

the test of the sword.

As Yap, the Philippines and Hawaii
are not white men’s countries, neither
is the Pacific a white man’s sea. And
there you are. Japan is working night
and day preparing to prove her con-
tention true. What is the United
States doing in the matter? AbSolute-
ly nothing that one can perceive.
California comes under the head of
a yellow man’s country, and that state,
with its one thousand miles of coast
line, is destined to know before long
the meaning to be attached to the
activities of the little brown men in
the matter of seaplanes and other in-
struments of modern warfare.

When Japan is ready to believe that
she can dispose of the American navy,
then look to your guns, Uncle Samuel,
for the moment that day dawns—and
it is approaching much faster than
many imagine—war’s dread echoes
will thrill the waves of the Pacific and
the brown and yellow hordes of East-
ern Asia will swarm to battle like the
drop of locusts on a Kansas cornfield
in August.

If air supremacy means supremacy
of the sea, Japan is ready and the
United States is woefully unprepared.
We are asleep at the switch with the
lightning express bearing down upon
us. A quick awakening is desired if
we would save our beloved America
from another baptism of blood.

The present troubles in Europe
may well be left to those immediately
concerned for settlement. Let the al-
lies settle their tiff with Germany.
The United States has a big mountain
of danger threatening which requires
all her diplomacy and _ statecraft to
guide away from the breakers of war
into the harbor of peace and safety.

Old Timer.

29

ail

 

head of

 

it’s class for 70 years.

Van Duzer Extract Company
Springfield, Mass., and New York City

{a BOX fC -
nut ee
“The Quality School”

A. E. HOWELL, Manager
110-118 Pearl St. Grand Rapids, Mich.

School the year round. Catalog free.

aleshook¢

A product must

be good to have

 

kept itself at the

100 Per Cent PLUS SERVICE
ALL KINDS, SIZES, COLORS, AND
ASK For SAMPLES AND

PRICES.

THE MCCASKEY REGISTER Co..

GRADES.

 

 

 

Grand
Rapids
49 Market
St, Ss. W:,

 

 

Citz.

1361

: Bell
M. 1361

WORE:

EGGS AND PRODUCE

 

 

Merchant
Millers

 

We Want
YOU
To Say So
TOO

 

Watson-Higgins Mlg.Co.

GRAND RAPIDS. MICH.

Owned by Merchants FLOUR
Products sold by BLENDED FOR FAMILY USE
Merchants THE QUALITY IS STANDARD AND THE
PRICE REASONABLE
Brand Recommended
_by Merchants Genuine Buckwheat Flour

NewPerfection Fiour

Packed In SAXOLIN Paper-lined
Cotton, Sanitary Sacks

You Make
Satisfied Customers

when you sell

“SUNSHINE”

 
 
 
 
   
  
  
  
   
     
 
    
  

 

Graham and Corn Meal

J. F. Eesley Milling Co.

The Sunshine Mills
PLAINWELL, MICHIGAN

 

 

 

 

“Yes, Madam,” Says the Grocer,
“White House Coffee is Different

—Very Different—

—and that’s just the real reason you will prefer it to any
other brand. The ‘promise of a good cup of coffee’ you
make to yourself when you put White House in your
coffee pot is just as certain to be realized as that the
daytime will follow the night. Users of White House
invariably anticipate meal time for the keen enjoyment
afforded by this splendid coffee,which always has the same
delicious flavor that has made it the most talked-about
and popular brand in the United States. Try it and see!”

 

LEE

DETROIT—KALAMAZOO-—SAGINAW—BAY CITY

 
    
 

& CADY, Wholesale Distributors

 

MICHIGAN

TRADESMAN

.

March 23, 1921

 

  

THE HIDE SITUATION.

Valid Reasons For the Depression in
Price.

In these troublesome days many
hide producers complain that their by-
products are not bringing prices in
proportion to the figures they pay for
live stock. To be sure, it is desirable
to see higher values on offal, so that
each part of the animal pans out for
itself; but, on the other hand, can
we blame any particular ones for
bringing about this condition? We
are quite sure that our tanner friends
are not pleased to see present values,
for we all know that they still have a
lot of leather on hand that is made
out of abnormally high-priced hides
and skins; they have their troubles as
well as the rest of us. They are will-
ing to clean the slate, turn their backs
on the past and start all over again.
Many customers say, Why don’t the
tanners clean up? Why don’t the
shoe manufacturers sell at still lower
prices? Why don’t the retailer cut
loose? Why don’t everybody else do
this or that?

Let us all be patient and not jump
at hasty conclusions. Let’s try to see
facts as they really exist. It surely
will not do any of us a bit of good to
see the many trades liquidating at any
old price if by that process they are
thrown into financial difficulties.
There is no conspiracy by any of us.
This condition is the result of infla-
tion during the war period. We have
a temporary overproduction. We first
must straighten out the European
countries so that they are able to
start buying from us again—buying
our usual surplus.

The sudden stoppage of business
with Europe and the holding off here
by wearers of shoes and users of
leather, in the hope of still lower re-
tail prices, has caused a congestion
of raw materials. No matter what
we do, no matter how optimistic we
are, we must remember that we con-
sumers of shoes, leather goods, wool,
soaps, etc., must first start the -ball
a-rolling. We must shed ourselves
of suspicions, hate and envy. We
must go into the retail stores and be-
gin to buy what we need; that doesn’t
mean that we must throw our money
away or buy what we do not need.
The average manufacturer, dealer and
retailer is “square.”’ If we encourage
the retailer he will place orders with
the manufacturer, and the manufactur-
er will place orders with the tanner,
with the woolen mills, and thus right
down the line to the farmer. When
they all get busy there will be plenty
of work and we will sell more meat,
more leather, etc. They would all
be a lot of jackasses to lay in goods
and thereby give us work if we would
pass their stores, peek in, put our
fingers up to our noses, and _ holler
“Profiteer,”
other unbecoming names.

You are trying to educate the house-
wife that live cattle at 10 cents per
pound and choice steaks at 40 cents
retail do not show you a 30-cents-per
pound profit. Let’s educate ourselves
a little into the same line of proper
reasoning by not engaging in foolish
questions—“I_ can’t see why _ hides
sell at 5 cents when a pair of shoes
sells at $8.” You might as well “rave

‘Burglar’ and a lot of

on” and figure to yourself that a hide
weighs 60 pounds and a pair of shoes
3 pounds, so that out of that hide
the manufacturer gets twenty pairs of
shoes!

It is a far cry from a green hide
to a pair of shoes. Hides are low be-
cause there is a surplus all over the
world. How long it will take to work
off this surplus depends on how soon
consumers get into the market and
how freely they spend their mony.
Take yourself as an example. You
know that you have not been buying
as many shoes as you used to. You
have been holding off thinking that
they are going to get cheaper, and
you have made the old ones do a lot
more service than was the case here-
tofore. Do not look for miracles. A
5-cent-per-pound hide or a dollar calf-
skin cannot be put into a shoe and
laid down on the retailer’s shelf in a
month or two. It takes time until
this low-priced leather gets on the
market, and there are more things
than just the hide that go into a shoe.
Don’t forget the labor that enters
into the making of leather and shoes.
A 10 or 20 per cent. reduction in la-
bor cannot show a five-dollar reduc-
tion in a pair of shoes. And it must
be remembered that there are three
and four dollar shoes on the market
to-day, and even during the abnormal
times you could buy five and six dol-
lar shoes. Why is it that we all like
to pick on fifteen dollar shoes when
there are plenty of shoes to talk about
that sell down to three and four dol-
lars? You never can hope to buy a
fifteen-dollar shoe with a five-dollar
pocketbook unless the manufacturer
or retailer has a way of getting fine
shoes without paying for them. If
we want fine workmanship, a_ fine
grain, a beautiful last and a fancy
color, be prepared to pay the price.
You cannot afford to sell
steaks at soup-meat

choice
cuts, and the
leather and shoe man is in the same
boat.

Getting back to hide values: What
they bring depends entirely on the
demand for leather and shoes, and
not on the cost of live cattle. We
have to admit that, even though it
hurts. We have seen times when
hides sold at four times what they
were paid for on the animals’ backs;
that was the time when shoes and
leather were in great demand.

Have not some of us made the mis-
take of piling hides up when they
could have been sold at reductions
from our views? At times like this
is it wise to keep on accumulating
them? Is it not the better policy to
sell what we can at the best price ob-
tainable, and thus strengthen our posi-
tion by carrying low stocks so that
we will be in a position to recover
Why not handle
our hides business the way we handle
the sale of meats? Is it good business
to hold out for the top price when we
are loaded up with meat and when we
know that we must kill more so to
have the goods when better business
looms up? Because hides were once
20 to 50 cents per pound is no reason
that they have to bring that price
again. Ask yourself why they brought
such high prices at the time.

We shall never see high figures on
hides so long as we agree with our

some of our losses ?

friends that the shoe man is a robber
or that the tanner is getting more
than he is entitled to. The only way
we will receive better prices for hides
is if we get out and boost and help to
make better business. Knock the
props from under the fellows that are
always hollering about the other fel-
low’s business. Get your confidence
up and instill confidence in others.
Have patience and talk facts to your
customers and friends. The average
consumer is reasonable and is satis-
fied to see a merchant make a fair
profit if that merchant takes the
trouble to talk facts to his customer.
That does not mean that we must get
into an argument with our customers
when we strike one who is not in a
receptive mood to listen to facts. Dis-
credit the wild stories in that part of
our press that makes it a business to
circulate wild stories about your busi-
ness so as to popularize themselves
with their readers.

It is unnecessary to recite that
stocks of raw hides and skins are
large. At the present values of hides
and leather, manufacturers and retail-
ers are only interested in the best
hides and in the best leather. Infer-
ior grades cannot be moved at all. A
manufacturer reasons that he might
as well tan a choice hide, with present
high tanning costs, than to expend
that labor on poor goods, and he also
knows that with leather and shoe
values on a lower basis consumers will
give preference to the better shoes
because the beter shoes to-day are
being sold at the prices that the low-
est grade shoes used to sell at. Tan-
ners are now only giving their atten-
tion to first salted fresh hides and
skins for such limited business as they
have. The old and inferior goods will
have to wait until the tanner cannot
supply his requirements with good
stuff, and that time appears to be a
long distance off, as packers have and
are making plenty of hides right along
and they are sellers at the best prices
obtainable, no matter how low. When
real old stuff will be sold or how it
will come out in the tanning processes,
if it never reaches the tanner is a ques-
tion. It is a safe bet that much of the
real old stock is damaged to an ex-
tent that it is unfit for tanning. Un-
less handled with extreme care, hides
and skins in salt for a long period are
usually damaged. The high grades of
leather cannot be made of skins that
are in salt six months or more even
though handled properly and _ salted
with the best salt.

Sales have been made of smaller
packer and wholesale butcher hides
from the best sections down to 6 cents
for native all-weight hides, and as low
as 4% cents for small packer hides
have been booked to packers’ tanner-
ies or sold outside down to 7 cents.
Old hides, either in the hands of large
or small packers, are unquotable. Old
country hides cannot be sold except
at prices that will permit converting
them into glue stock, and that means
around 1% cents per pound. Fresh
salted country hides are practically
neglected, and when purchased in a
limited way here and there have gone
as low as 4 cents per pound for goods
out of the best sections. All sorts of
prices are talked by holders of hides,
but when business is really done the

I NODE MRT EELS ESSA ISIE NE I SIE SINISE NTE tn 8

rates are so low that if one had talked
such prices a year ago he would have
been considered a fit person for the
lunatic asylum.

Calfskins are having a little better
call. Fresh salted goods are selling
from 6 to 13 cents per pound. Heavy
kips are not wanted at all, and when
moved they bring no more per skin
than the price paid for medium or
heavy weight calf. Sheepskins are
talked from 10 cents to $1.25, depend-
ing on the quantity of wool, condition
of the slat and the size of the lot.
Country and small packer average
lots have been moved at around 50
cents per Horsehides are
nominally quoted at $3.50 for the best
renderers, and the poor and small
hides are not wanted at any price. It
must be remembered that paper quo-

piece.

tations do not make sales at times like
this. It takes actual business. Trade
papers render a great service at all
times; they aim and do give out re-
liable news; they bring sellers and
buyers together, and facilitate busi-
ness; but they must not be taken to
task if sellers find that they are un-
able to realize the quotations they
attempting to put
through actual business.

publish when

Hides are low in price, to be sure,
and many say that they cannot go
lower; but the question to ponder
over is, how long will it be hefore they
bring better prices, and will they be
suitable for tanning’ when they are
taken up after already being in salt a
long time? The big fellows in the
trade have been free sellers right
along—they have quit being surprised
—they go along and try to do busi-
ness at the best price obtainable.
Boost, and then boost some more—
that’s the best way to try to get better
business our way.—Butchers’ Advo-
Cate.

———__*-<-_____
Many reforms are faulty because
they are contrary to human nature.

 

When You Think

of buying Stocks or
your first thought is:

Bonds,

Who uses their commodity?
Whom do they seli?
Do the public use it?

‘h

Ist Mortgage Serial
Gold Bonds

of the

Regent Theatre

AND

Roof Garden Ball Room

Are Safe, Sound, Sane Invest-
ments

 

FISCAL AGENTS

Interstate Securities Corp.
431 KELSEY BUILDING
Phones—Citizens 62142, Bell M. 110

 

 

 

  
 

 

 

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March 23, 1921

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

  

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Living in Atmosphere of Incessant
Fault-Finding.
Written for the Tradesman.

It was a long time ago, so nobody
need think he can recognize the peo-
ple, even if the description fits some-
that he
which is quite possible.

body knows—even himself,

[ stayed for a week-end with a
family consisting entirely of fussers,
and by the time I got away I was al

l
And I

thing

ready to be a fusser myself.
don? think 4
to be, especially as it is entirely pos-

fusser is a nice
sible to cure yourself of being one if
want to, . Of
must recognize that you-are one. I
don’t think these people realized that
they were fussers.

It was a rather trying time, for I
liked them—father, mother, son and
what

you course, first you

two daughters—and saw nice
people they would be if they hadn’t
got into the habit of fussing.

The

weather didn’t suit him, and he was

Father began the day fussing.

complaining really before the sun was

above the horizon—it was winter-

The cotfee

wasn't what it ought to be, his egg

about its being too warm.

was overdone, and a storage egg any-
way, and the price of eggs was out-
rageous. The newspaper was wet, and
that was the newsboy’s fault, and the
maid might have dried it by the stove
before she brought it to him.
“Harry, can’t you brush your hair
decently and sit in your chair like a
“Good

gentleman?” This instead of

morning.” (They all said “Good

morning” to me, but not to each
other.)

The children fussed at each other
about everything, and mother fussed
about everybody. Nothing was right;

nothing had been right yesterday;
there appeared no reason to suppose
anything would be right to-day or to-
morrow OF €yver.

I tried several times to turn the
conversation into some cheerful chan-
nel, racked my brain for some amus-
ing thing to say; but it was all in
vain: in a few minutes we were back
in the atmosphere of fault-finding. So
I set myself to studying the exhibit
and trying to trace the thing back to
its causes.

I would not have you suppose this
an unhappy family, or that they were
not all fond of each other. Far from
that. | ater,
was desperately sick, the whole family

when one of the girls
sat under the shadow of anxiety and

devotion seldom surpassed

even in families where mutual affec-

showed

tion is much more ostentatious.

I know now that father was the
only son of a most solicitous mother,
who by her example and words taught
that his wishes, his
most

him to beleve

comfort, his dislikes were the

Noth-
ing must be done to him or about him
that did not
pleasure was a family calamity.

important things in the world.

please him. His dis-

His wife used to be a jolly girl, a
schoolmate of mine; but now, when I
was seeing her for the first time in
home, she had

habit of

years, in her own

caught her husband’s com-

about everything, and the

two had passed the habit on to their

plaining
children. It was one of the most per
fect instances of imitation that I ever
have seen.

In the evening about the reading
table the thing kept up without a
break:

“Harry, can’t you sit still? How do
you suppose I can read while you are
fidgeting about like that? Margaret,
can’t you hear your chair squeaking?
Get another one. Laura, every time
you turn a page your nails scratch on
nearly

the paper and it drives me

wild. You know I don't like noises
like that.”

Long-standing, habitual selfishness,
to begin with; the original idea that
everything in the world must be made
comfortable for self; the habit of in
expressing feeling ol
After a
mosphere is saturated with this piti-

stantly

every
annoyance. while one’s at-
able state of mind; the family and the
neighbors get to expect it, get callous
to it, and that is why the whole family
can take it on as a custom. Iam sure
friends would be surprised to
they
they did that week end to give me a

those
know how spoiled everything
good time. Prudence Bradish,
{Copyrighted 1921.]
4 ee

Marble Time.

Marble time is aboat here.

 

Every
boy in town will be playing marbles.
Why not take advantage of this and
secure a large number of marbles and
offer to give each boy in town a sack
purchase of

with each

It may be coffee, break-

of marbles
some article.
articles selling

fast food, cocoa, or

for 25e or more. Fill the display win-
dow with marbles as well as the ar-

ticle you wish to sell in connection
and accompanying the display with a
large show card calling attention to
your offer. Have a dodger printed
announcing this offer and have it dis-
tributed to the boys as they are dis-
Gee, but the

from. school.

boys will go wild over this offer and

mussed

they'll tease their mothers to death to
let them buy this article in order that
they might get the marbles.
rr
Working in conjunction with the
fire department, Spokane
Scouts are undertaking an inspection

sixty Boy

of local conditions in the interests of
fire prevention.

Theoretical Impossibility of Davis’
Chimerical Plan.
Grandville, March 22—Strange what
queer ideas get into the heads of some
of our smartest men. Almost every
prominent man (and many who are
not prominent) has a pet plan for

solving this immigration problem.

The latest development along this
Iimé is trom Secretary of Labor
Davis, who has a solvent of the im
migration question that is so simple
it is a wonder we had not all of us
fallen for the solution long ago. In
a nutshell, the plan is to steer the
stream of immigration along new
channels, away from the cities, into the
Western country, and even a part of
it to deserted farms in Eastern states

[The new plan is to scatter these
people out in sparcely settled sections,
planning to group them somewhat on
the European village plan, and offer
them the advantages of expert agri-
cultural and home demonstration in
struction through the department of
agriculture.

The farm, with the advantages we
can offer, will be the best sort of
\mericanization ever. Beautiful in
theory, but how about the facts?

That the countless millions destined
to flock to America can be thus
steered to Western homes on small
farms, their wants supplied and every-
thing made safe and sane for Ameri
can ideas, with no suffering for want
of means, with every want supplied,
and men of foreign birth just from the
low spots of Europe, made éver into
successful farmers is a picture worthy
of one of the great masters, but that
sane, ordinary, sensible men should
entertain such an idea is beyond the
comprehension of anyone with ordin-
ary business sense.

It simply can not done, Secre-
tary of Labor Davis to the contrary
notwithstanding. Why not keep to
plain common conditions, im
stead of flying off on a tangent of
theoretical impossibilities ?

To people the wild lands of the
West is, perhaps, a commendable en
terprise, yet how can this be done
without the expenditure of more
money than we, as a. Nation, are able
to raise? All these plans for taking
care of an immense flow of immigra-
tion are but pipe dreams which newly
Hedged statesmen are inflicting on our
ears, but which can have no hope of
accomplishment in the real things of
life.

“Our plan is not to replace Amer!
can farmers with foreigners, but to
create new farms and make new farm

Ce

be

SENSE

ers!

This is the plan. Government wild
lands are to be cut into small farms
on which it is proposed to settle these
foreign families, give them homes
where they can eke out an existence
until abundant crops come to reward
the diligent. Fine, isn’t it? Is it not
pertinent to ask how these millions
of new farmers can work these virgin
soils without tools, horses or tractors,
with no buildings to shelter them
from the sun’s heat and the winter’s
cold? If it were possible to make a

success of such a scheme, it would
certainly be a miracle which has never
been before wrought in America.

Our own native farmers had to en-
dure hardship and toil, had to earn
money with which to purchase land,
tools and animals before striking root
in the soil of a new country. How,
then, are these comparatively money-
less immigrants from Europe to found
homes on new lands without the
wherewithal to make purchases and
lay perdu for a whole year at the very
least before any returns come to fill
the family coffers?

“There is land enough in this coun-

try for millions of small farms,” says
Commissioner Husband, of the 1im-
migration bureau. Very good. There

are lands in swampy regions which,
when once drained, will make the best
agricultural lands, yet it will require
something beside bare hands and a
will to do to fetch these districts in-
to productive farms. Where is the
money coming from? Uncle Sam
is rich enough to give us all a farm,”
was the refrain of the old song. So
he was and is, but he is not rich
enough to place buildings on these
lands, drain the swamps, furnish tools,
horses and tractors and present them
to indigent families, at the same time
providing food for the new settlers
until they realize from off their plant-
Ings.

Your Uncle Samuel never has been
that liberal to his American born chil-
dren, nor is he likely to bankrupt him-
self by undertaking to grub stake
countless foreign born people whose
chance for repayment isn’t very re-
assuring.

Families ot

these

foreigners might be
steered to Western farms
farms in name only—and not fit for
culture and the production of an ins
come for at least one year after the
first hoe or plow tickles the soil. It
would prove a thankless task for the
United States to foster-father the mil-
lions of inflowing immigrants to the
tune of billions of dollars.

It isn’t likely that the native Ameri
cans will care to bankrupt the Nation
in order to invite the whole world to
come in and partake of the good
things so lavishly displayed—in the
minds of theoretical American states
men—simply for the asking.

It is admitted by these immigration
manipulators that it will make bad
matters worse to admit shoals of for-
ergners to the cities to come in com-
petition with our already swamped
factory workers. This being true,
how even less feasible would be the
attempt to raise billions of dollars
for the purpose of caring for immui-
grants on wild lands until the new
settlers from seas become self
supporting.

There ought to be
in Washington capable of
through a grindstone with a hole in
it, who will kindly inform these
theoretical platitudinarians that the
only way to settle the immigration
question is to shut out immigration
entirely for a term of years.

Old Timer.

over

some wise man

seeing

 

Piowaty-Downs Co., Lansing, Mich.

 

The PIOWATY HOUSES
Are Acknowledged Leaders
All-Ways

Michigan’s Leading Fruit and Vegetable Distributors.

The Nearest Piowaty House Will Serve You Satisfactorily.

Jackson, Mich.

Saginaw, Mich.
South Bend; Ind.

M. Piowaty & Sons | Saein Rapids, Mich.

Piowaty-Muskegon Co., Muskegon, Mich.

 

 

 

32

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

March 23, 1921

 

 

 

  
 

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Grand Council of Michigan U. C. T.

Grand Counsellor—H. D. Ranney, Sag-
inaw. :

Grand Junior Counselor—A. W. Stev-
enson, Muskegon.

Grand Secretary— Morris Heuman,
Jackson.

Grand Treasurer—Harry Hurley, Trav-
erse City.

sf
Grand Conductor—H. D. Bullen, Lan-

sing.
Grand Page—George E. Kelly, Kala-
mazoo.
Grand Sentinel—C. C. Carlisle, Mar-
quette.

 

 

News From the One-Time Sawdust
City.

Muskegon, March 22—Muskegon
Council held its annual election and
banquet at K. of P. hall Saturday
afternoon and evening, March 20.
About sixty-five plates were laid. A
fine program, consisting of fancy
dancing by ten girls, led by Miss Jar-
dine, a reading by Miss Porter and
several musical selections by Miss
Bassett and Mrs. Fortier. The high
school glee club gave some excellent
numbers, with Mrs. Luther at the
piano. Herman Anderson sang a
Swede song and also did some rather
dramatic auctioneering. E. H. Hor-
telle, of Grand Haven, gave some
splendid colored selections in a very
fine) manner. We can cheerfully
recommend Mr. Hortelle as a_ fun-
maker. The writer lived a few years
in his neighborhood and has often
seen him in action.

The following officers were elected
and installed, Grand Junior Counselor
Stevenson acting as installing officer:

Senior Counselor—Henry Frost.

Junior Counselor—Harold Foote.

Past Senior Counselor—Nick Lu-
lofs.

Secretary-Treasurer—Herman An-
derson.

Conductor—Jake Klont.

Page—J. R. Allen.

Sentinel—Ed. Hesse.

Executive Committee, two years—
Chas. Oviatt, E. P. Monroe.

Executive Committee, one year—
John Peters, M. H. Steiner.

Delegates to Grand Council—Nick
Lulofs, Chas. Oviatt; Alternates,
Harold F. Foote, E. C. Welton.

The following committees were ap-
pointed by Senior Counselor Frost:

Auditing—A. W. Stevenson, Milton
Steindler, J. E. Lyon.

Floral—Ed. Hesse, Milton Steindler,
J. R. Allen.

Entertainment—H. F. Foote, Victor
Damm, Bro. Averill.

Railway—M. H.
Stevenson.

Chaplain—J. E. Lyon.

Scribe—E. P. Monroe.

The following were admitted into
the order: Frank A. Young, (Muske-
gon Co-operative Oil Co.), Arthur
Oltoff (Myers Co.)

According to the stage driver from
Maple City there was recently dis-
covered and unearthed a mammoth
head and antlers of some very large
animal. The head and antlers are in-
tact and somewhat resemble an elk,
only they are much larger. They
measure eight feet from tip to tip. An
extensive search in the vicinity will be
made to try to obtain the remainder
of the skeleton. The horns have been
varnished and are now on exhibition.
This is no fish or bear story, but a
fact. Maple City is located in Lee-
lanau county.

James Coad, Secretary Chamber of
Commerce, expresses regret at not be-
ing at the meeting or rather the ban-

 

 

Steimer, A. W.

quet. Jim surely likes to eat and
talk.

The Saturday Night in its last issue
called Charles Oviatt a big fat gink.
Oviatt says he does not know what
that means, but will try to find out.
Several of the boys agreed to assist
with this column, so we are going
ahead and see who is a ‘

r E. P. Monroe, Scribe.

 

Side Lights on Some Michigan Hotels

A well-known traveling man fur-
nishes the Tradesman with the fol-
lowing graphic
Michigan hotels:

Post Tavern, Battle Creek, March
17: In coffee room (counter service)
eggs fried or boiled (2), 25c: poached,
plain (2) 30 cents. Can you beat it?
And eggs selling in retail stores at
27@30c per dozen.

Occidental, Muskegon: Cafeteria
department. The war is still on, so
far as one can see.

3urdick, at Kalamazoo: The indif-
ference and independence of Manager
an demployes isn’t appealing strongly
to the traveling public.

Kerns, at Lansing: Improvement
since the new management. Ought
to be. They get enough for it.

Whitcomb, at St. Joseph: One of
best table de hote dinners in State
for one plunk.

Cushman, at Petoskey:
ing men.

Perry, same town: Many traveling
men. There’s a reason.

McKinnon, at Cadillac: Hear a lot
of kicking on prices, which are main-
tained at the top notch. Travelers
told that “if you don’t like my hotel,
stay away.”

Charlie Ziegler, same town: Gives
you the gland hand, which helps a
lot these days.

Pantlind, at Grand Rapids:
sed.”

This goes for the old Morton, too.

Wright House, Alma: Help! AL
though meals are pretty good.

Western, at Big Rapids: One of
the “old school.”
a delight.
minute.

Dal-Van, at Jackson: Best beds in
State and Ed. Dalton always genial.

Bailey, at Ionia: Brown is doing
right well, considering the old shell
he has to work on.

3elding, at Belding: Same class
with the Western, at Big Rapids, ex-
cept the “delight.”

King, at Reed City:
the best he can.

Winter Inn, at Greenville: The
touch of home cooking, preserves and
home grown dill pickles help a lot.

Durand: Never knew the names of
the hotels and glad of it. The eating
houses——.

Stevens, at Fennville: Traveling
men stop off at this town just to get
dinner at this hotel.

comments of some

Few travel-

“Nuf

The wash room is
Landlord on the job every

Race is doing

Mecosta Hotel, at Mecosta: Con-
ducted by a woman who does about
all the work. One is as well pleased
with the meals and sefvice in the din-
ing room as he would be in the
Statler at Detroit.

Remus, eight miles away: The
filthiest hotel in the State, barring
none.

—_—_>-<+____
Hat Prices Tumble.

Philadelphia, March 22—The pre-
dicted declines in the prices of men’s
hats have taken place. Ever since last
August the industry has been suffering
the effects of an extremely limited de-
mand on the part of the public.

Recent cuts, it is declared, run in
some cases as high as $3 upon a single
hat, and the new quotations by manu-
facturers show that 20 per cent. is an
approximation of the reductions made
virtually all along the line.

This cut, it was announced, was
made possible by the action of the
hatmakers’ union in agreeing to a cut
of 20 to 25 per cent. in wages. Manu-
facturers report that the response
from the retail trade, while not im-
mediately overwhelming was quite de-
cided, and they are looking forward to
a substantial increase in business for
the rest of the season.

————_—>->-
Not the Same.

“Reverse and back always mean the
same, don’t they father?”

“By no means, my son. The more
reverses a man has in business the
less backing he can get.”

 

CODY HOTEL

$1.50 up without bath
RATES } $350 op wipaut

CAFETERIA IN CONNECTION

 

 

New Hotel Mertens

Rates, $1.50 up; with shower, $2 up.
Meals, 75 cents or a la carte.
Wire for Reservation.

A Hotel to which a man may send his

 

family.

 

 

 

OCCIDENTAL HOTEL

FIRE PROOF
CENTRALLY LOCATED
Rates $1.00 and up
EDWARD R, SWETT, Mar.

Muskegon t=2 Michigan

The Newest Well Known for
in Grand Rapids Comfort and Courtesy

HOTEL BROWNING
Three Short Blocks From Union Depot
Grand Rapids, Mich.

150 FIRE PROOF ROOMS—AIll With
Private Bath, $2.50 and $3.00

A. E. HAGER, Managing-Director

 

Beach’s Restaurant

Four doors from Tradesman office

QUALITY THE BES!

 

 

Livingston Hotel

and Cafeteria
GRAND RAPIDS

Nearer than anything to everything.
Opposite Monument Square.
New progressive management.

Rates $1.25 to $2.50
BERT A. HAYES, Propr.

 

 

 

Steady and Assured Power

 

 

o

of Polarine to use in your car.

 

No matter how skillful a driver you may be, to obtain the best
results from your car, you must use a gasoline with a correct range
of boiling point fractions. A gasoline which will give all the power
your engine is capable of developing.

 

Red Crown Gasoline
Is Steady and Sure

(Polarine

THE. PERFECT MOTOR OIL

SEALS PISTONS AGAINST LOSS OF POWER.

One of the four grades of Polarine Oil will enable you to con-
serve and use all the power your engine will develope. Polarine
seals pistons and minimizes carbon.

We recommend their use in every make and type of car.

Ask any Standard Oil agent or representative to show you the
chart on which is given our recommendations as to the correct grade

STANDARD OIL COMPANY

(INDIANA)

   

 

 

CA SN ESR -

 

 

 

sie iii uk Sa Sea aaa

 

 

 

 

    
   
 

 

 

 

 

 

Wie sud dnl aa aia leg eae

March 23, 1921

Gabby Gleanings From Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids, March 22—Fred C.
Ohland is posting up preparatory to
covering Eastern Michigan territory
for the Michigan Hardware Co.

Charles Christopher, who traveled
twenty-five years for Northrop, Rob-
ertson & Carrier and the Lansing
branch of the Worden Grocer Com-
pany, has retired from the road, to
take the management of the safety
deposit vaults of the Capital National
Bank. Charles is very much attached
to his new position, but here’s dollars
to doughnuts that he sometimes wish-
es he was out on the warpath again.

The recent advance in passenger
rates from 3 cents to 36 cents per
mile is the last straw which broke the
camel’s back. Not so very long ago
it cost $3.04 to go from Grand Rapids
to Detroit. Now the cost is $5.93. Up
to three years ago the cost of a lower
berth was $1.50. Now it is $3.24—
more than double. The combined cost
cf fare and berth has increased from
$454 to $9.17—nine cents more than
double. Such an increase can only
result in one way—greatly decreased
patronage by the traveling public and
the employment of other methods of
travel more in keeping with the con-
dition of the average pocket book.
The Ishpeming Iron Ore thus indi-
cates the attitude of Upper Peninsula
people regarding the outrageous con-
ditions now prevailing: There has
been another boost in railway fares
in Michigan where six-tenths of a
cent has been added to former rates,
and where an addition of 50 per cent.
has been made in sleeping car fares.
We will now pay 58 cents to ride to
Marquette, but when the highway
opens the people will ride in auto-
mobiles, and the automobile will also
be an important factor in carrying
passengers long distances. We hear
of many people who will visit Mil-
waukee, Chicago and other distant
towns, from the Upper Peninsula, by
automobile.
costs, says he can take his five-pas-
senger Franklin from Ishpeming to
Chicago on $5 worth of gasoline, mak-
ing the trip easily in two days. Five
fares to Chicago would be about $105.
A one-night stop for the automobile
passengers would not amount to more
than $15 for the party, and after pay-
irg for this and the extra meals, they
would be far head of the game. The
excessive passenger rates on trains
will result in greatly increased travel
by automobile. Railroad travel is sure
to fall off greatly because of the very
high, cost. There will be very little
traveling done for pleasure.

These are days when salaried men
who stuck to their jobs when others
rushed off to grab big wages in other
but transient fields, find themselves
secure while those who hurried off
and lost the advantage of continuance
are watching the help wanted col-
umns.

Music is pure, says a critic; but
what is music? To the average ear
harmonious sounds are music. To the
savage, the tom-tom is harmony. To
the boy, the squawk of baking pow-
der can attached to a rosined cord,
is pure delight. Meanwhile, mem-
bership in the society for the pre-
vention of music increases.

Germany’s beer bill is as large as it
was the year before the war began,
but the volume of lager has decreased
greatly. Fritz is paying just as much,
but getting a lot less.

The buyers’ strike might be called
sort of a counter-revolution.

We can think of nothing more ap-
propriate to do with a renthog than
to put him in the pen.

We just threw a brick into the air,
and to our surprise, it came down.
Ve didn’t suppose brick ever did.

According to the infamous Gompers
a union is something that everybody
ought to join and nobody ever ought
to enjoin.

The only person on earth who ever
had a real reason for saying ‘I'll tell

One man, in comparing _

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

the world” never said it once in his
whole speech.

We bet that there is one town in
Pennsylvania that will observe an
immediate improvement in its postal
service, and that is Haysville.

It doesn’t seem quite fair to take
away one person’s amusement and
leave another person hers. In other
words if we prohibit highballs, why
not also prohibit hysteria?

C. O. Race, who was clerk at the
Mertens Hotel (Grand Rapids) for
five years, but who took the manage-
ment of the Hotel King, at Reed City,
for the past three years, has taken
the management of the new hotel—
to be known as the Race House—at
Elk Rapids and will open it for ‘the
public May 1. He was in town Mon-
day and Tuesday of this week, pur-
chasing furniture for the hotel, which
he promises to conduct the best he
knows how.

A little boy at Sunday school being
asked, what is the chief end of man,
replied, “The end that’s got the head
on.”

Don’t be selfish because you have
been a little more fortunate than your
neighbors. Show them that though
you have money, you are still a man,
that you want to be friendly with
them.

We should more fully appreciate our
opportunities could we realize what
a blind person with a love of the
beautiful would give for just a glimpse
of the marvelous world, which is all
shut out from him and free to us.
What would he not give if he could
just have his eyes opened for a few
months and be allowed to travel
over this beautiful earth and drink in
the world’s beauties? Just to be able
to see the flower, to get one glimpse
of the landscape which we see so
often that it makes almost no im-
pression upon us, what would it not
mean to him?

——_—_> 2
Boomlets From Busy Boyne City.
Boyne City, March 22—There is not

much news from our town. They tell
us that the county road commission
will build a retreat for the county
road equipment on the corner of Lake
and State streets, where the tools and
machinery will have a place to be
sheltered and repaired. Sort of a san-
itarium, as it were. They are now
scattered, as Commissioner House
says, from Hudson to Advance, which
is further than from Dan to Beer-
sheeba. Mr. House believes in tak-
ing care of the county outfit as well
as though it were his own, or better,
which is contrary to the generally
accepted notion concerning public
owned equipment.

On account of the “lovely spring
weather’ we have been having, the
Boyne City Lumber Co. was obliged
to stop operations last week, indef-
initely. A never ending succession of
thaws and freezes with showers be-
tween makes logging in some sections
an impossibility and, taken with the
general business condition, is hard on
the most optimistic lumbermen. It
would not be a bad thing if some of
the higher ups would have to get on
the other side of the payroll and be
obliged to find the wherewith to pass
out as each succeeding payday rolls
around.

We would like to take a pull out
of the ‘ship by truck’ maniacs. [f
the public treasury was mulched for
fifteen or fifty thousand dollars per
mile for railroad construction and
then another quota for maintenance,
possibly the disparity between rail
rates and truck rates would be still
wider than they are now. The people
of Athens had nothing on the great
American public for going crazy over
some new thing. The truck bears
about the same relation to the rail-
road that a good convenient efficient
set of men’s pockets bears to a wom-
an’s wrist bag—powder puff and all.

- Maxy.

Review of the Produce Market.
Apples—Sales are only fair on the
following basis:

Necerern Shve (00 $6.00
Mabman Sweets 2.0.00. 4.50
Baewins 5.00
pecsets 4.50
Jogathans 5.00

Bagas—Canadian $1.50 per 100 lb.
sack,

Bananas—9c per Ib.

Beets—$1 per bu.

Butter The market is barely steady
after the recent decline, which was on
the fine grades of creamery butter.
There is at the present writing an
ample supply to meet the current de-
mand. Receipts, however, are some-
what light for this season of the year.
Unless there is a noticeable increase
in the production of fancy butter, it
is hardly likely we will see much low-
er prices in the immediate future.
Local jobbers hold extra creamery at
43c and firsts at 40c. Prints 46c per
Ib, Jobbers pay i8c for packing
stock, but the market is weak.

Cabbage—75c per bu. and $2 per
bbl.

Carrots—$1 per bu.

Celery—Florida, $3.50@4 per crate
of 4, 5, and 6 stalks; Jumbo bunches,
85c; Large Jumbo, $1.

Cider—Fancy command 70c per gal.
put up in glass jars, 6 to the case.

Cocoanuts—$1.10 per doz. or $9 per
sack of 100.

Cauliflower — Florida, $3.75 per
crate.

Eggs—There have been three de-
clines during the past week, due to
heavy receipts at all the great con-
suming markets. Receipts at Chicago
yesterday (March 22) were 57,000
cases. Local jobbers pay 2lc this
week for fresh, including cases, f. o.
b. shipping point. There are no in-
dications of higher prices.

Grape Fruit—Fancy Florida stock is
now sold on the following basis:

C6) $4.00
AOL. 4.75
LO 5.00
0. 5.75
)O 0S ee 5.79
ee 5.45
De 5 25

Green Onions—Shalotts, $1.25 per
Lemons—Extra Fancy California
sell as follows:

O00 Size, per DOX _..._______ $5.25
BAU size, per box __. §.25
al Size, per box ol 4.75
Fancy Californias sell as follows:
aug size, per bow —. $4.75
AG size, per box ..- 4.75
2aC Size. per box - 4.25

Lettuce—I18c per lb. for leaf; Ice-
berg $4.75 per crate.

Onions—Spanish, $2.50 per crate of
72s or 50s; home grown in 100 Ib.
sacks, $1 for either yellow or red.

Onion Sets—$1.50 per bu. for white;
$1.35 per bu. for red or yellow.

Oranges —Fancy California Navels
now sell as follows:

lee $5.75
ie 5.29
EE OR ne 4.75
20) OE nee ei 4.75
1G) Se es ee 4.50
i a 4.25
i ee titties 4.25
Ce 3.75

Parsley—60c per doz. bunches.
Parsnips—$1 per bu.

  

33

Peppers—Green from Florida, $1.25
per small basket.
Potatoes—Home
per bu.

grown, 40@50c
The market is weak.
Radishes—Hot house, large bunch-
es $1.10 per doz.
Spinach—$1.85 per bu. for Southern
grown.
Strawberries—$5.50 per 24 pt. crate
of Louisiana.
Potatoes—Illinois or Dela-
ware, both kiln dried, command $2.75
per 50 lb. hamper.
Tomatoes—California, $1.60 per 6
Ib. basket.

Turnips—$1.25 per bu.
>.>
Beecham’s Pills False and Fraudulent.

The United
Says

Sweet

States Government
3echam’s Pills are a faud. In
a food bulletin just sent us by the
United States Department of Agri-
culture it appears that the Govern-
ment brought prosecution on the
ground that the statements regarding
the virtues of Beecham’s pills were
“false and fraudulent in that the ar-
ticle contained no ingredient or com-
bination of ingredients capable of pro-
ducing the curative and therapeutic
effects claimed for it.” And some-
body came into court on behalf of the
owner and admitted the charge was
true!

And so another idol falls. The case
is respectfully referred to the general
storekeepers who sell Beecham’s pills.

ee
Peddle Sunlight If You Can.

Though you deal in liquid blacking,
Dismal bluing and such things,
When you have a sale to manage,
Do it as the robin sings.

Put some cheer-up in your business—
Be a chipper sort of man,

And, with other lines of notions.
Peddle sunshine if you can.

There’s an awful deal of meanness
In this busy world of ours;
But, mixed in with weeds the rankest,
Ofttimes grow the finest flowers.
Wear a posy on your lapel,
It won't hurt the trade you plan,
And along with other samples,
Peddle sunshine if you can.
PO
Provisions—The market on smoked
meats is slightly firmer, with quota-
tions about the same as previous quo-

tations. There is a moderate supply
The mar-

ket on lard is steady and unchanged,

with a fairly active demand.

with a fair supply and a very light de-
mand. The market on lard substitutes
remains weak, with prices about “ec
per pound lower than those of a week
ago. There is an adequate supply to
meet the present fair demand. The
market on dried beef is steady, quota-
The market on
barreled pork is fairly steady, with a
light supply and a very light demand.
The market on canned meats is steady
and unchanged.
i
Ninety-nine per cent. of the energy

tions are unchanged.

stored in a ton of coal is lost on its
way to the electric bulb, so that we
get only a hundredth part of the pos-
sible light it contains. In other words,
parts are dissipated in
heat, and used tp in friction in the
electric apparatus, and never become
light. Just as great a waste of energy
goes on in a man’s use of his own
powers. Instead of one hundred per
cent. of his energy appearing in re-
sults that are worth while, often a
very small per cent. of it gets into his
real work, the rest being dissipated
in foolish and harmful ways.

ninety-nine

 

     

MICHIGAN

TRADESMAN

March 23, 1921

 

 

 

 

 

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Store Management—The Shirk.

The shirk is a well-known specimen
of the genus homo. His habitat is
offices, stores, business establishments
of all kinds. His habits are familiar to
us, but a few words on the subject will
not be amiss. The shirk usually dis-
plays activity when the boss is around
and material inactivity when the boss
is out of sight. Sometimes he makes
a pretense of working, for the benefit
of his fellow clerks. Now and then
he comes out boldly and loafs openly,
except on those occasions when the
boss is in the neighborhood and per-
haps not feeling any too indulgent.
The shirk is quick to detect these
changes in the official barometer. The
shirk, of course, is always the last one
at work and the first to depart. He
takes all the sick leave permissable
and generally manages to get a few
days extra. The same applies to an-
nual leave.
pleasant habit of
disappearing after lunch two or three
times a week, and not showing up
again until four or five o’clock. Oc-
casionally you do not see him until
the following day. The shirk, in short
is out to do as little work as possible,
to take as much time off as possible,
and to draw as much pay as he can
for such work as he does perform.
We have seen shirks who displayed
considerable ingenuity in getting up
schemes and ruses for avoiding work.
In fact, if they would apply this in-
genuity to their daily work, it would
stand them in good stead. How does
the shirk get by with it? There are
various explanations. Sometimes he
has a pleasing manner and a ready
laugh for the jokes of the boss. Some-
times he is a-good worker when he
wants to be, a good salesman, per-
haps, a man with something of a fol-
lowing. The boss is on to him, more
or less, but keeps hoping that he will
reform.

Sometimes the shirk has the boss
fooled. Now and then he has a cer-
tain percentage of his fellow-workers
fooled. He can occasionally display
such bursts of industry as to almost
fool himself. No clerk likes to be a
talebearer. No clerk likes to go to
the manager with a story about a fel-
low-employe. And to this very fact
is due much of the shirk’s success in
dodging work. Now, no clerk likes to
feel that he must arrive at 8:30 while
another man is allowed to saunter in
at 9:15 or thereabouts. It looks like
favoritism. The rules should apply
to all. A few rare spirits will stick
doggedly to the work and the rules,
regardless of how the shirk is getting
away with his capers, but plenty of
good men get sore and begin to let
down in their work.

And here is where the shirk does

He has a

°

his greatest damage. It isn’t the work
that he dodges. It isn’t the ten min-
utes he cuts off in the morning and
again at night. It isn’t the sick leave
he takes every month. Those things
are not so very expensive for the boss.
The thing that is expensive is the let-
down in morale. You can’t blame good
men for getting sore. Now and then
the shirk actually manages to put over
a raise in salary, which he has not
earned and does’ not deserve. The
boss, of course, is only human. Many
things happen around the store which
he does not see. Sometimes it is the
part of good management for the boss
to close his eyes, so to speak. But
not to the antics of the habitual shirk.
We know that a fellow with a pleasant
smile and a hearty manner can fre-
quently ingratiate himself with a su-
perior officer, and thus manage to
dodge discipline in many ways. At
the same time the honest plugger isn’t
fooled.

Can you blame him for saying to
himself: ‘“What’s the use? Why
should I work myself to death? Why
shouldn’t I get mine?”

There are feminine shirks, too.

There is the girl who blows in
twenty minutes late every morning,
with no excuse, or a flimsy excuse at
best. There is the girl who receives
a lot of telephone calls, and who
spends an hour every day gossiping
over the phone with her beau. There
is the girl who went to a party the
night before, met the handsomest fel-
low, and must go all over the estab-
lishment telling everybody what he
said, how he looked, and what an im-
pression he made. Harmless stuff,
perhaps, but the telling takes a lot of
time. This girl not only shirks her
own work, but prevents others from
working. The boss shoulders the
loss.

It is not a wise plan to run a busi-
ness establishment like a prison. Sen-
sible friendships should be encourag-
ed. If the clerks feel that they must
never speak above a whisper, the
boss will not get the best results from
his working force. Shirks can be
reached. There is an offensive type
which actually urges other clerks to
let down in their work, spreading the
doctrine of “What’s the use?” A big
wholesale druggist was recently heard
to say: “See that girl?”

es.

“I would willingly pay her a salary
to stay away from the store. She won’t
work herself and she is constantly
telling other girls that they are foolish
to work so hard. I don’t want my
clerks to work too hard, but I do ex-

pect them to work.”
“Why don’t you get rid of her.”
“Well,

her uncle is a promincnt

man. He throws me _ considerable
business. If I fired her, he would get
sore.”

Eventually the druggist did fire her,
but he should have fired her a year
before. The uncle merely said it
served her right.

The thoughtless clerk will change
his tactics if given a friendly talk.
Thoughtlessness can be corrected
without much trouble.

The willful shirk may require stern-
er methods. The boss should make it
his business to look out for shirks. He
should realize that few employes will
carry tales. When convinced that
you have an habitual shirk to deal
with, there are two methods. You
can fire him outright, or you can give
him another chance. We all like to
reform a man if we can. But if an-
other chance is given, there should
be a clear understanding that the
reformation will be genuine, that no
foolishness will be tolerated.

It is sometimes astounding how
long a shirk, one with no pull or in-
fluence of any kind, can “get by.”

Of course, the boss doesn’t go
snooping around, the shirk is adroit,
other clerks will not carry tales, and
so the farce goes on for a long time.
The proprietor, however, cannot af-
ford to have the morale of his estab-
lishment lowered by one who will not
work. If the shirk is allowed to go
along undisturbed, it is difficult to see
how the efficiency of the working
force can be maintained. The boss
is under no obligation to bear this
loss. Sometimes a lesson is good for
a shirk. After losing two or three
good positions, he may take a brace.
At any rate, the wise boss will do
well to keep up a sharp lookout for
habitual shirks. He owes that much
to square clerks and we are glad to be
able to say that they are in over-
whelming majority.

State Board of Pharmacy Saved.

Grand Rapids, March 22—The Leg-
islative Committee of the M. S. P. A.
are able to report that the State
Board of | Pharmacy will not be
merged with another board, as was
feared, but will be placed on a self-
supporting basis and saved for the
pharmacists of Michigan. Should the
State Board of Pharmacy have been
done away with in Michigan, there
would have been two political divi-
sions without a pharmaceutical board
—Michigan and Turkey.

There were several suggestions as
to how to make the State Board of
Pharmacy self-supporting and none
would meet the anticipated expendi-
tures of the State Board of Pharmacy
until it was agreed to adopt a sort of
combination of the life certificate and
the registration of drug stores.

By this plan, all present registrants
in pharmacy will receive a life cer-
tificate without extra charge. Ap-
plicants for registration as druggists
will pay a $10 examination fee, which
will entitle them to a second examina-
tion within the same year should they
not pass the first one. Upon passing,
they will pay $10 for a life certificate
as druggist. For pharmacist, the fee
will be $15 for examination and $15
for life certificate. There will be a
modification of this in case an appli-
cant for druggist receives a standing
sufficient to entitle him to a pharma-
cist’s certificate at the close of his four
years. In addition to this, it is sug-
gested to register apprentices at $1
for their entire time of apprentice-
ship.

The registration fee for drug stores
will be $3 per year. This registration
is of a decided advantage to the drug-
gists of to-day, as it places a legal re-
sponsibility upon the store, in addi-
tion to that placed upon the clerk.
In short, we are relieved of an un-
registered proprietor employing a
registered clerk and then placing all
the responsibility on the clerk.

The State Board of Pharmacy, be-
ing financially able, will have charge
of the inspection of drug stores, in-
stead of leaving this to the Dairy and
Food Department. The retail drug-
gist would much rather prefer to have
the inspection of his place of business
conducted by his own board than by a
foreign board.

Louis V. Middleton, Sec’y.

 

Business.

May We Suggest:

Glassware - -

Warm Weather

is almost a reality

You appreciate what this will do for

The Guarantee Iceless Soda Fountain
Vortex Sundae & Soda Service
J. dungerford Smith's Fruits & Syrups
H. & P. Dutch Process Cocoa

your Fountain

White Rock Ginger Ale
Coca Cola, Etc.

Table Service

 

 

 

CAO EE IE ROME OCR EE i

Hazeltine & Perkins Drug Co.
Grand Rapids, Michigan

SOR RO REET ER

 

 

      
     
      
       
       
       

 

 

 

 

SSAA aE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 23, 1921

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN 35
Items From the Cloverland of Michi- The city of Wakefield now has a
gan. unique pumping plant for the supply- Wholesale L Drug Price Current
Sault Ste. Marie, March 22—The _ ing of water to the inhabitants and for : : :
Leader, one of our largest department fire-fighting purposes. The water Prices quoted are nominal, based on market the day of issue.
stores, "celebrated its twenty-fifth an- comes from the 4th level of the old Acids Almonds, Sweet, i Tinctures
niversary last week. Dave Eliassof, Chicago mine, which is located on the Boric (Powd.)_. 18%@ 25 ashen a, 3 =e - Acenita @1 385
the manager, has every reason to be North shore of Sunday Lake and just Boric (Xtal) _18i¢@ 25 atu wot ae in @1 65
proud of its growth and success dur- North of the town. The 4th level of aa Tan eam 00 = Anise _ ..--- 1 50@1 80 Peay garni @1 =
ing that time. The present quarters this mine is 416 feet below surface Muriatic ________ 4@ 6 Bergamont --.. 8 ot 75 eed oea oe @} 35
compare favorably with any up-to-date and here there is an old crosscut run- Nitric _-_-______~ — 2. ea ; 00@3 25 Benzoin _______- @2 40
store in the State. ning South from the breast of which potas oe “a _ Castor ___...... 1 30@1 66 3enzoin Comp’d @3 15
Mr. Pickering, of the Soo Ferry there is a flow of pure spring water a 58@ 65 Cedar Leaf ---. 2 00@2 25 Fe de — @3 a
Co., announces that hereafter there flowing approximately 500 gallons per ao — . 50 iS. Cauca @2 30
oven: q2is ~4ho ns
will be a charge of 5c on baby car- minute. Analysis secured from the Ammonia Cocoanut -..-.. 30@ 40 Cardamon —-_____ @1 50
riages between the two Soos. Whether State laboratory at Lansing pronounce Water, 26 deg -- 10%@ a0 God Eiver 2 25@2 50 Cardamon, Comp. @1 25
: : : j Water, -18 deg. -- - COA on 2 25@2 50 Catechu -_______ @1 50
or not he has joined the race suicide it the very best. A concrete dam was Water, 14 deg. 30 e fo 1 25@1 35 Cinchona __--_-- @2 10
club is not stated. This will bea hard built in the breast of this crosscut to Carbonate i oe eo” lCUC 00@11 25 Colchicum  ______ @2 00
knock on the families who have no hold back the water and an 8 inch Chloride (Gran) _15@ 25 Bigeron 2 00@6 25 Shake nla --------- @3 =
“flivvers.” There is also a raise on suction pipe installed from the dam i oo 1 25Q1 30 aan. ae oi 80
automobiles, but even at that it will to the shaft where it was connected Cisetin 80@1 00 Juniper Berries 3 75@4 00 Ginger, D. S. _- @2 00
be cheaper than taking them over on with an old 10 inch discharge pipe cos s 50@2 75 Juniper Wood 2 50@2 75 Guaiac -_________ @2 80
flat cars. which was left in place when the Fir (Oregon) _-_ 60@ 80 Lard, extra ---. 1 25@1 45 pi Ammon. G2 a
You can’t always judge a man’s. property was abandoned and dis- eae ~---------- ‘a - ee ia cdasta ca lodinn, Golasiaae” @2 00
wealth by the size of his pay envelope. mantled. Over the collar of the shaft = c "'" Yaveuiar Gers 1 tame Os Iron, clo. 2. @1 50
W. H. O'Neill, one of our well- a wooden structure has been erected Barks SOTO a 1 75@2 90 5 st ——— Gi 40
known hardware merchants, has taken large enough to house the pump and Cassia (ordinary) 45@ 50 - pepeniige 4 ee a Nas Volien @1 90
in L. W. Troyer, his son-in-law- as a switchboards properly. A 200 gallon Cassia (Saigon) " itunes wm ot an...  4anao
partner this week. Mr. Troyer has Pomona power pump is installed over oo cat one,” G © fTinseed raw less Sq 92 Opium, Camp. -_ @1 30
been in the employ of the Carbide Co. the collar of the shaft which lifts the “"Gqe 7US ‘Powe? 30@ 35 Mustard, true oz. @2 = hee @2 s
for the past ten years and is well and water 416 feet from the 4th level in here aaa 1. 0 ° °¢0ChCCC
favorably known throughout the city. the shaft and then forces it up to a Berries Olive, pure _.-. 4 75@5 50
His many friends are pleased to note concrete reservoir that is approximate- a ~--------- i |= - Olive, Malaga, : Paints
that he is going into the hardware ly 200 feet above the collar of the 1 hoo! ga eepeeoumat 90 15 a wie —- Lead, red dry _-_ 13@13%
business, as the O’Neill Hardware Co. shaft. The city mains are connected Prickly Ash .. 8 @ 40 green __--.-_ 4 00@4 25 Lead, white dry 13@13%
has always enjoyed a good patronage with this reservoir, and about 125 gal- i: Orange, Sweet 5 00@5 25 ere ee eee “os
and been one of the Soo’s successful lons per minute of water are used. ae ee 60@ 65 caicacee at o5Ot Se Ochre, yellow leas 2% 6
enterprises. So, with a 500 gallon supply, a plenti- — /Cerice powd. —-  @100 Pennyroyal ____ 3 00@3 25 Putty ___.________ 5@ 8
A letter received from one of our ful supply of good water is assured ae Peppermint ____ 8 00@8 25 Red Venet'n Am. 2@ 17
former Sooites, George A. Ferris, for years.to come. The concrete : Flowers Rose, pure -. 15 00@20 00 ae ao oe Eng. 4@ 3
> > Aewiee 75@ 80 Rosemary Flows 2 50@2 75 Whiting, bbl. _.. @ 4%
states that Sooites in Detroit are plan- re servoir situated in the top of a big Chamomile (Ger.) 50@ 60 Sandalwood, EB. White 5%@ 10
ning a big “get-together” party sched- _ bluff, is probably unique also. Instead Chamomile Rom Ma & (boo 13 00@13 25 LL. H. P. Prep. 3 75@4 00
uled for April 15. There is a small of building a concrete reinforced G Sassafras, true 3 way 25
colony of Sooites residing in Detroit circular tank on the top of the bluff A id Ha “ea a Sassafras, ose na Gaeta oe Miscellaneous
and occasionally they get together and the former township officers, before rier, et naa aso 50 Graven Lg "os 00 koclaaaiis 50@ 55
have one grand time to make them Ww akefield became a city, decided that Acacia, Sorts _..  26@ 20 Tansy es Ot OUGEL 16 i oo a -
think of the good old days in the in order to have a reservoir for all Acacia, powdered 40@ 45 Tar. USP -—____ — FF: oo _
home town. time it would be advisable to put it in co eore Pow) 30@ 40 Turpentine, bbI-- ..@ $2 Alum, powd. and p
pe Pow) 30@ 35 Turpentine, les 67@ Ti Sroune . 11@ 20
A business office near the ferry dock the bluff itself. A tunnel was accord- Aloes (Soc Pow) 1 25@1 30 Wintergreen, Bismuth, Subni-
has posted the following notice: “All ingly driven into the side of the bluff Asafoetida 2 25@2 50 tr. ---------- 12 00@12 25- trate _________ 3 55@3 15
persons dropping empty booze bottles from which a raise was put to the top es oe 3001 p+ "oa ewe 006 @6 25 Haren Ate oa 8%@ 15
in the vicinity of this office will oblige of the bluff. Then the raise was en- Hate @1 25 Wintergreen art 85@1 20 Cantharades, po 1 75@5 50
the inmates of said office and, incident- larged to a circular section by blast- Guaiac, powd’d 1 25@1 50 Wormseed_ --_- 5 50@5 75 Calomel 1 60@1 70
ally, save them many steps if they ing until the needed dimensions were . spn Oey 2. = Wormwood -- 22 50@22 75 Capsicum -_---_- ; ae se
mark said bottles “empty.” secured. The rock went down the Myrrh POvO°r? $ 90) Sotackion Cassia Buds 50@ 60
The Michigan Historical Magazine, raise and was caught in a chute at Myrrh, permderea @100 , ‘ snes 6h CANOE eee ene 35@ 45
in its latest issue, presents an eleven the bottom, from which point it was Opium —______- 50@1z vv ‘epg pa G Chalk — Prepared ae
page article on the Soo pageant. The trammed through the tunnel and eee og 13 00@13 rr Bromide _....._ 65@ 15 Chloral. Hydrate 110 7002 10
article is illustrated by cuts of the dumped down the side of the bluff. Shellac _ i3@ 85 Carbonate -~~_- 15 as Cocaine 48 85@16 90
pageant which show some of the The rock is a gray slate and was later Shellac Bleached oe 6 Soe. Loh at 38@ 45 Cocoa Butter --. 50@ 80
: - . ae aie ae Tragacanth __.. 4 50@5 50 Chlorate, xtal or | - Corks, list, less 40%
beauties of the Soo splendidly. used as a foundation for the macadam Tragacanth [ian ee a 8 Goce CO
J. C. McLean has opened up a new Streets about town. The reservoir ‘urpentine’* 35@ 30 Touide Menelies 3 7303 ey Copperas, Powd. 4@_ 10
meat market at Rudyard, with Alex Was made water-tight by using the ea ela ede Oorce | ----- ” g5@1 00 Corrosive Sublm 2 01@2 10
Grieves, the well-known butcher, in Stnite process of cementing, the raise avcenig 0 20@ 30 60@ 65 & her oe *00 80
charge. This will be good news for Sealed at the bottom with concrete and fine “Wittiols bo @ 08 Prussiate, — (ia ieee 7@ 10
the people of Rudyard, who have been 2 small frame building erected over Blue Vitriol, less 9@ 15 ulphate -~--__. Dover's Powder 5 715@6 00
without meat a large part of the time. the reservoir, completing the installa- ri. a Roots pee oe 4 Le
it is Secoced ut FD Rekwd. tne William G. Tapert. pawaored rena 98@ 46 Alkanct 75@ 85 Sipeoms’ Salts, ‘tee 8 OG
son, “the man who made the airplane M i. Le halt : : : Insect Powder 60@ 80 anne oo A oie Salts, le - 4%@ a8
fase? otherwise the supervising I es oe ialf the intelligence in tena pi ype li 22@ 42 a ae ae a Ergot, co “oe 50
prohibition enforcement agent for this the world goes to waste because it hey 23 Gentian, powd. 20@ 30 Formaldehyde, lb. 23@ 30
district, has resigned. It is hinted isn’t used. Paris Green ---_ 40@ 50 Ginger, African, Gelatine _......... 2 00@2 25
powdered 23@ 30 Glassware, less 50%.
that the reason for this step was the Ginger, Jamaica 40@ 45 Glassware: full case 60.10%.
change of administration. He expects Ice Cream Ginger, Jamaica, Glauber Salts, bbl. @03%
to re-enter the service of the Internal _ - eon Cream = 3 muweseres eer 20O8 - Glauber, Salts less o4@ 40
Revenue Department. Bulk, Vanilla ---.___. ee ee tee a ee se 8
D. Booth, President of the Booth- ENVE LOPE S Bulle Saar peel i a i. 100. 43 Giue’ White — 360 rt
Newton Co., of this city, left last Sat- Bulk, Grane Nut ae } a5 Licorice, vow r+ = Glue, White Grd. 30@ 35
, * 2s > 5 — 5 Jrris, powdere ® Glycerine ns 264 0
urday for Detroit, where he will enter Of Every Description fi Tae en im fae fewanea aa @ one —--— 1 50@1 80
the ford hospital to receive treatment Brick, Vanilla ___..__ 140 Riahar Gi8@ tide 5 70@5 90
for an injured foot which has been ALL SIZES ALL COLORS Brick, Chocolate -...140 Rhubarb, powd. @1 25 lodoform ____.__ 7 00@7 30
causing him much trouble for several ’ Brick, Caramel 1 60 peenewods. gl 30@ 35 Lead, Acetate -. 20@ 30
months, | He was accompanied by Dr. ee Bue Suna 198 Sezsapanile, Hong. 6, j» Lycopodium -_—"s 50g6 i
F. J. Maloney. r urp Sarsaparilla Mexican, Mace, powdered 95@1 00
If a preacher is weary after preach- fh is ee We lees dee
ing a long sermon, he at least has the Bulk’ Vanilla “Special 125  Sauills, powdered 800 70 Nux Vomica —__. 30
heart-felt sympathy of the congrega- Correspondence Envelopes Bulk aka” 129 Tumeric, powd. "a 30 Nux Vomica, pow. 26 35
tion. Window Envelopes Bulk, Caramel ____.. 1 29 Valerian, powd. 75 Pepper black pow. 32 35
Fred Bye, who for the past few Document Envelopes Bulk, Grape-Nut -.-. 1 20 Sédde oe cae “¢ 4s
years has conducted a meat market on Pamphlet Envelopes oon wo tO Ak 33@ 35 Quassia _.--___-- 2@ 15
Spruce street, has sold out to John Pay Envelopes Brick, Vanilla ...-... 140 Anise, powdered 38@ 40 ING ancestries 99@1 72
Hotton, who has been in charge of the Coin Envelopes Brick, Vaney —...... 1 60 ough Is -------- 108 7 to -- “| <
Marine meat market for several Drug Envelopes ees "Vigil ea Rae im taacus Pe ae tee me oe eee —----_18%0 3
years. Mr. Hotton — no a Tag Envelopes ee co Cardamon a a s Seldiits Mixture 49@ 45
‘duction to the trade here, as he is Clasp Envelopes : elery, powd. .45 ap, green _.___
one of the pioneer butchers and con- Cloth Lined Envelopes CU he io 22 Soap mott caste 22% 7
ducted the Hotton Bros. market about Expansion Envelopes a ie 67@ 70 Fennell... 36@ 40 it eo @16 00
thirty years ago. His many friends as 4 hoe... Ge @ Fix 06%@ 12 Soap. white castile
are pleased to know that he will again some, Dewdered.-, $58, 9 winx. Gromd — SAS Ue less, per ber —— 911
be engaged in the business and wish We have the only Exclusive aan tn...dlU ee So hoe 10@ 18 Soda Bicarbonate | 4@ 10
him every success. Envelope Printing Machine in Senna, Tinn. pow 35 46 hotels. 2... 2 60@2 75 acon a seen 4e 5
John Agnew, formerly in the meat Grand Rapids. Uva Ursi -------- 20@ 26 oo a. ts i Sucuae, anphor 04 ‘2
business here, and for the last five Olis Pope 30@ 40 Sulphur, Subl. __ 1% 10
years a resident of Detroit, in the Almonds, Bitter, Quince ees 1 4 - Tere an oe ae. 30
employ of henry ford, is visiting old an asian! 16 00@16 25 Pn aera 2549 35 Turpentine, Ven. 50e6 os
friends here. He states that the Soo TRADESMAN COMPANY artificial 2 50@2 75 Sunflower —.-_.. % 15 Vanilla Ex. pure 2 00
never looked better to him than it Almonds, Sweet, Worm American sig 40 Witch Hazel __ og? 15
does at present, Tre .......... i 756@2 00 Worm Levant 2 225 Zinc Sulphate ~- 1

 

  

ye

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

  

March 23, 1921

 

GROCERY PRICE CURRENT

These quotations are carefully corrected weekly, within six hours of mail-

ing, and are intended to be correct at time of going to press.

Prices, however,

are liable to change at any time, and country merchants will have their orders

filled at market prices at date of purchase.

 

 

 

ADVANCED DECLINED
Anise Seed Cheese Furs
Celery Seed Mich. Beans Hides
Poppy Seed Ground Spices Flour
ool Whole Spices
Mushrooms Canary Seed
Hemp Seed
Mustard Seed
Rape Seed
AMMONIA Clam Boullion CIGARS

Arctic Brand
12 oz., 2 doz. in carton,
oer Gon, $1.65

Moore’s Household Brand
12 oz., 2 doz. to case 2 70

AXLE GREASE

 

25 lb. pails, per doz. 27 10

BLUING

Jennings’ Condensed Pearl
Small, 3 doz. box _._.. 2 65
Lares, 2 doz. box —._. 2 70

BREAKFAST FOODS

Cracked Wheat, 24-2
Cream of Wheat ----
Grape-Nuts —__-__..__
Pillsbury’s Best Cer’l
Quaker Puffed Rice-_
Quaker Puffed Wheat
Quaker Brfst Biscuit
Quaker Corn Flakes
Eaiston Purina —._.._
Ralston Branzos ----
Ralston Food, large --
Ralston Food, small__
Saxon Wheat Food --
Shred. Wheat Biscuit

He OT OS he GO Hm Do ht He OT 00 C0 6 oe
oo
oe

Kellogg’s Brands

Toasted Corn Flakes 4 10
Toasted Corn Flakes

individual _.... 2 00
Benois 410
aot 2 00
oe ee 2 60
Krumble Bran, 12s -. 2 25

BROOMS

Standard Parlor 23 lb. 5
Fancy Parlor, 23 lb. ~~ 8
Ex Fancy Parlor 25 Ib 9 50
Ex. Fey, Parlor 26 Ib 10

BRUSHES
Scrub
Solid Back, 8 in. ---.. 1 50
Solid Back, 11 in. .. 1 75
Pointed Hinds __.____. 1 25
Stove
Me. to 110
Ne, 2 1 35
Shoe
Ne. 4 2 90
No. 2 1 25
Ne. 8 2 00

BUTTER COLOR
Dandelion, 25c size .. 2 80

Perfection, per doz. -. 1 75
CANDLES
Paraiine, 6 15%
Paratine, 1276 ....... 16
Wians ............. 60
CANNED GOODS
Apples
3 lb. Standards -...@1 50
mo 2 @5 25
Blackberries

2 ib. oo a
moO. 40 @14 00
Beans—Baked

Brown Beauty, No. 2 1 35
Campbell, No. 2 _... 1 30

Preamont, No. 2 ...... 1 30
Van Camp, No. % —_ 70
Van Camp, small ____ 1 05
Van Camp, medium_-_ 1 30
Beans—Canned

Red Kidney -... 90@1 50
Wee 1 60@3 30
a. eee 1 60@2 70
ee 115@2 365

eo - @1 10

Burnham’s 7 oz. -_.. 2 50

Corn
Standard 1 10@1 75
Country Gentmn, : es . 90

Peeme @2 25
Hominy
Van Camp 1 50
Lobster
1b, Siar. 2 95
mM th. Siar oo 5 40
23D: Star 10 50
Mackerel
muntara, 1 ib... 2 1 80
Mustard, 2 ib. _..._ 2 80
Boused, 146 ib... 1 60
Soused, 2 ib, 2 75
Mushrooms
Choice, 1s, per can -- 60
Hotels, is, per can .. 4
Exe 65
ur Exe oo 80
Plums
California, No. 2 _... 2 60
Pears in Syrup
Michigan _...... UW. 4 00
California, No. 2 _... 4 25

Peas
Marrowlat ...._ 1 35@1 90
Early June —... 1 35@1 90
Early June sifd 2 25@2 40

Peaches
California, No. 2% 3 50
California, No. 1 2 25@2 75
Michigan, No. 2... 4 25
Pie, gallons —__._ @8 50

Pineapple

Grated, No. 2 —. 2 80@3 25
Sliced, No. 2%,

Eigtres 200 3 50
Pumpkin

Van Camp, No. 3 _.._. 1 45

Van Camp, No. 10 --. 4 50

Lake Shore, No. 3 —.. 1°35

Vesper, No. 1) ___ 3 90
Salmon

Warren’s % lb. Flat 2 90
Warren’s 1 lb. Flat -. 4 70

Red Aigeka _...... 3 90
Med. Red Alaska 3 cae 50
Pink Alaska --. 1 90@2 25

Sardines
Domestic, 4s -- 5 50@6 00
Domestic, %s -- 6 50@7 50
Domestic, %s -- 5 50@7 00
California Soused ---. 2 00
California Mustard -. 2 00
California Tomato ~-. 2 00

Sauerkraut

Hackmuth, No. 3 ---. 1 50
Silver Fleece, No. 3 1 60

Shrimps
Dunbar, 1s, doz. —._... 2 45
Dunbar, 114s, doz. --- 5 00
Strawberries
Standard, No. 2 _.-..- 3 00
Fancy, No. 2 2. 4 00
Tomatoes
Np. 2 5@1 40
mo. 8 1 ie 25
No, 1) 2: 6 00
CATSUP
Sniders & of. 1 90
Snider's 16 og. —.... 3 15
Royal Red, 10 oz. —._.. 1 35
Royal Red, Tins —-__. 8 00
CHEESE
TOre 27
Wisconsin Fiatse —_.___ 29
bonenor 222.0... 30
New Yors 30

Michigan Full Cream 27%
CHEWING GUM

Adams Black Jack —__. 70
Adams Bloodberry -_-- 70
Adams Calif. Fruit —.. 70
Adams Chiclets —...___. 70
Adams Sen Sen ----.. 70
Adams Yucatan 70
Beeman’s Pepsin —..._ 70
Bercunut oo 75
DPovumeminet 2 70
a1ucy Prat 70

Spearmint, Wrigleys -. 70
PRONG 65

CHOCOLATE
Walter Baker & Co.
Ceoraces 48
Premium, %s 47
Premium, 4s -. 44

Premium, ss ........ 6

Worden Grocer Co. Brands

Harvester Line

Trotters, 100s —..__ 57 00
Record Breakers

(Time) bes 2 75 00
Delmonico, 50s ------ 75 00
Pacemaker, 50s ~---- 75 00
Panatelia, 50s —_... 75 00

Favorita Club, 50s —_ 95 00
After Dinner, 50s —-_ 95 00
Favorita Extra, 50s_ 97 50

Hpicure, S08 112 50
Presidents, 50s ----_- 115 00
Governor, 25s  ---.-- 130 00
Soberanos, 50s --_-- 175 00

The La Azora Line.

Opera (wood), 50s_. 57 00
Opera (tin), 25s --_ 57 00

Washington, 50s --_ 75 00
Panatelia, 60s _.=.. 75 00
Cabinet, 508 2. | 95 00
Perfecto Grande, 50s 97 50
Pais; S08 22 97 50
Imperials, 258 —..._ 115 00

Royal Lancer Line
Favorita, 50s
Imperiales, 50s ~___
Magnificos, 50s

 

Sanchez & Haya Line
Clear Havana Cigars made
in Tampa, Fla.

Diplomaticos, 50s 112
Reina Fina (tin) 50s 115 b0
ORR: OUR 127 00
National, 50s _.._.. 130 00
Original ‘Queens, 50s 153 00
Worden Special
(Exceptionals) 50s 185 00

Ignacia Haya
Extra Fancy Clear Havana
Made in Tampa, Fla.

Delicades, 50s  -_____ 120 00
Primeros, 50s —_______ 140 00
uepns, 268 0 180 00
Periecto, 2s 185 00

Garcia & Vega—Clear
Havana
New Panatella, 100s 60 00
Starlight Bros.
La Rose De Paris Line
Caballeros, 50s —.____ 70 -
Rouse, oe 110
Peninsular eet 258 i 00
Peas, Zoe 22 175 0
Rosenthas Bros.
B. Londres, 50s,
Tissue Wrapped __ 60 00
R. B. Invincible, 60s,
Foil Wrapped ___. 756 00

Frank P. Lewis Brands

Lewis Single Binder,
50s, (5 in foil) ~--_ 58 00

Union Made Brands
El Overture, 50s, foil 75 00

Manila 10c
La Yebana, 25s —-... 70 00

Our Nickel Brands

Mistoe, 1008. 35 00
iiopa, 1008 2. 35 00
El Dependo, 100s __.. 35 00
Samo, O08 8 35 00

Other Brands
Throw Outs, 100s  _. 50 06
Boston Straights, 50s 55 00
Trans Michigan, 50s 57 00
Court Royals (tin) 25s 57 00
Court Royal (wood)

Oe 57 00
Knickerbocker, 60s_.°58 00
Jroguois, 50a _.... 58 00
- 16, O08 2 58 00
Hemmeter Cham-

pions, 508 60 00
Templar Perfecto,

We 110 00

CLOTHES LINE

Hemp, 60 tT

Twisted Cotton, 50 ft. 3 3
Twisted Cotton, 60 ft. 3 90
Braided, 50 ft. _____. 4 00
Sash Cord ._____ 2 60@3 75

COCOA
Bakers 8 20 62
Bakers 48 —...... 48
Bunte; 1c: size —..... = 55
Bunte, 4% 1b. — 50
Bunte, ft ib. 2. 48
Cleveland oo 41
Colonial, Ysa 35

Colonial, %s 33
Droste’s Dutch, 1 Ib._. 9 00
Droste’s Dutch, % Ib. 4 75
Droste’s Dutch, %& Ib. 2 e

Bipos 22

Hersheys, 48 37 43
Herseys, %S —_._...-.— 40
Mayer 2 36
Teweey, 46: 222. 48
Lowney, SB 8 47
loowney, 4s: - 46
Lowney, 5 Ib. cans --_. 31
Van Houten, %*8 =... 12
Van Houten, 4s ------ 18
Van Houten, %s ----.- 36
Van: Houten, is —....- 65
Wan Mita 2200 36
AVEDD 222203 33
Wvilbur, ten 33
Wiibur, 48) 00 33

COCOANUT

y%s, 5 lb. case Dunham 50
148. 5-1. cage 22. 48
ws & Ys, 15 lb. case 49

6 and 12c pkg. in pails 4 -
Bulk, barrels 202

48 2 oz. pkgs., per case 4 is
48 4 oz. pkgs., per case 7 00

COFFEE ROASTED
Bulk
BAG il
Danton ole 17@23
Maracaibo 8000 22
Mexican 200 25
Guatemala . 26
J078 46
Baretta ooo 28
Peaperry 0020.0 2 22

Package Coffee
New York Basis
ATDUCKID: 22000 23 00

McLaughlin’s XXXX
McLaughlin’s XXXX pack-
age coffee is sold to retail-
ers only. Mail all orders
direct to W. F. McLaugh-
lin & Co., Chicago.

Coffee Extracts
NW. Y.,- per 109 ... 10%
Frank’s 250 packages 14 50
Hummel’s 50 1 Ib. ~~ 10%

CONDENSED MILK
Eagle, 4 doz. 11
eager, 4-doz. -.

EVAPORATED MILK

Carnation, Tall, 4 doz. 6 65
Carnation, Baby, 8 dz. 6 00

Pet, Ta 22 6 60
Pet, Ow 4 50
Van Camp, Tall _..._ 6 50

Van Camp, Baby ---.. 4
Dundee, Tall, doz. —- 6
Dundee, Baby, 8 doz. 6 00
Silver Cow, Baby ---- 4
Silver Cow, Tall _... 6

MILK COMPOUND

Hebe, Tall, 4 doz. ~-.. 4 50

Hebe, Baby, 8 doz. 4 40

Carolene, Tall, 4 doz. 4 25

CONFECTIONERY

Stick Candy Pails
Moerehoungd 82.0 21
Stanger 21
Cas
Boston Sugar Stick. 30

Mixed Candy

‘ails
eT OKGR 2
Cut Toat 220 22
rocers: oo 14
Kindergarten -—  -... 25
Reeneer 2 22
Century Creams _..._ 23
~~ OO 17
French Creams 2. 23

Specialties -. Pails
Auto Kisses (baskets) 26
Bonnie Butter Bites__ 28
Butter Crean Corn -. 30

Caramel Bon Bons —. 35
Caramel Croquettes —_ 28
Cocoanut Waffles _._ 28
Coty Toty 2.2) 35
Fudec, Walnut _... 28
Fudge, Walnut Choc. 28
Iced Orange Jellies ._ 26
Italian Bon Bons _... 24
AA Licorice Drops
B 1b box 2 2 00
ManChnus 26
Nut Butter Puffs -._. 28
Snow Flake Fudge _. 26
Chocolate Pails
Assorted Choc, .. 29
Champion: 20 oe 24

Honeysuckle Chips .. 39
Klondike Chocolates_. =
TAO V

Nibble Sticks, box 2 28
Nut Waters

Ocoro Choc. Caramels 32
Peanut Clusters —__. 36
Ouintette 20. 25
Victoria Caramels .... 31

ee REAP SS Ate NA A ESN SES A SIE:

Gum Drops

Champion: 2 20
RASHOITY 2 22
Pavorite. 202 aS
Superior. 200 4
Orange Jellies _....__. 24
Lozenges

A A Pep. Lozenges -.. 20
A A Pink Lozenges... 20
A A Choc. Lozenges. 20

Motto Lozenges —.._. 23
Motto Hearts 23
Hard Goods
Lemon Drops .... 24
O. F. Horehound Drps 24
Anise Squares  -_--_. 24
Rock Candy —.o2.- 2)! 32
Peanut Squares ~.-__ 22

Pop Corn Goods

Cracker-Jack Prize .. 7 00
Checkers Prize __.. 7 40

Cough Drops

Boxes

Putnam Menthol ___. 2 25

Smith Bros, 2002 2.00
Putnam Menthol

Horehound 22... 1 80
CRISCO

360s, 248 and 128 3 | 18%

6 4b, 2220 17%

COUPON BOOKS

50 Economic grade __ 2 60
100 Economic grade 4 50
500 Economic grade 20 00
1,000 Economic grade 37 50

Where 1,000 books are
ordered at a time, special-
ly printed front cover is
furnished without charge.

CREAM OF TARTAR

6 ib. boxes {oh 55
3 ib. boxes 2000 60

DRIED FRUITS
Apples
Evap’d, Choice, blk... 12%

Apricots
Evaporated, Choice ___. 380
Evaporated, Fancy -... 36

Citron
20°40. DOK 200 52

Currants
Packages, 14 oz. ~-_- 20

Boxes, Bulk, per lb. 21

Peaches

Evap. Choice, Unpeeled 24
Eivap. Fancy, Unpeeled 26
Evap. Fancy, Peeled —. 28

Peel
Lemon, American —~_.... 32
Orange, American  -_.. 33

Raisins

Fancy S’ded, 1 lb. pkg. 27
Thompson Seedless,

2 ib. pee. oo 27
Thompson Seedless,
DU 26

California Prunes

80-90 25 lb. boxes mt ti
70-80 25 lb. boxes ~.@10
60-70 25 ib. boxes ~_.@12
50-60 25 Ib. boxes __.@14
40-50 25 lb. boxes ~.@16
380-40 25 Ib. boxes ~.@19

FARINACEOUS GOODS

Beans
Med. Hand Picked —_ 05
California Limas  -_.. 10
Brown, tiolland 2.3
Farina
25 1 lb. packages —... 2 80
Bulk, per 100 lbs, _...
Hominy
Pearl, 100 Ib. sack _. 3 00
Macaroni

Domestic, 10 lb. box 1 00
Domestic, brkn bbls. 8%
Skinner’s -24s, case 1 90
Golden Age, 2 doz. 1 90
Fould’s, 2 doz., 8 oz. 2 00

Pearl Barley

Kaipster 22 5 75
Peas
Sooteh, 1b.j02 0 4%
BOUC 1G. oe a
Sago
Bast india. 2.0 3
Tapioca

Pearl, 100 lb. sacks —. 8

Minute, 8 oz., 3 doz. 4 05

Dromedary Instant, 3
doz., per case -... 2 70

FISHING TACKLE
Cotton Lines

No. 2. 15 feet 2. 4 45

INO. 3: 15 feet oo 1 70

NO: 4.35 feet 1 85

INO. 6) 15 feet oo 2 15

ING. 6, 15 feet 2208 2 45
Linen Lines

Small, per 100 yards 6 65

Medium, per 100 yards 7 25
Large, per 100 yards 9 00

Floats
No. 1%, per gross .. 1 60
No. 2, per gross =. 1°76

No. 2%, per gross _. 2 26
Hooks—Kirby

 

Size 1-12, per 1,000 .. $4
Size 1-0, per 1,000 _. 96
Size, 2-0, per 1,000 __ 1 16
Size, 3-0, per 1,000 __ 1 32
Size 4-0, per 1,000 = 45 65
Size 5-0, per 1,000 __ 1 95
Sinkers
No. 1; per gross Ss 65
No. 2, per gross
No. 3, per gross
No. 4, per gross __.__ 1
INO. 5, per Bross 22. | 1
No.8, per Sross |. 1
INO. 7, per gross | 2
No. 8, per gross
No. 9, per gross _
FLAVORING EXTRACTS
Jennings

Pure Vanilla

Turpeneless

Pure Lemon
a Per Doz.
i Dram 20 Cent =|. 1 65
1% Ounce, 25 Cent __ 2 00
2 ‘Ounce, 37 Cent." 3 00
2% Ounce, 40 Cent __ 3 20
2% Ounce, 49 Cent _. 3°40
& Ounce, 65 Cent | § 66
8 Ounce, 22,00 22) 9 00

7 Dram, 20 Assorted__ 1 65
14% Ounce, 25 Assorted 2 00

Van Duzer

Vanilla, Lemon, Almond,
Strawber Ty, Raspberry,
Pineapple, Peach, Coffee,
Peppermint & W intergreen
1 ounce in cartons _. 2 00
2 ounce in cartons __ 3 50
4 ounce in cartons __ 6 75
S ounce 13 26
Pinte 2 26 46
Quatie (00 Fe 51 00
Gallons, each 2... 16 00

FLOUR AND FEED

Valley City Milling Co.
Lily White, % Paper

BAG 2 ce ee 10 50
Hiarvest Queen 24%s 10 00
Graham 25 lb. per cwt 4 40
Golden Granulated Meal,

25 Ibs., per cwt. N_ 2 40
Rowena "Pancake Com-

pound, 5 lb. sack —. 5 50
Buckwheat Compound,

Dib, Baek oo 5 50
Watson Higgins Milling
Co.

New Perfection, %s 10 20
Meal

Gr. Grain M. Co.
Boted oa 260
)

Golden Granulated 2 80
Wheat

MO. 1. eG oe Soo aS

NO, 4 White Gu ae
Oats

Michigan Carlots —... 47

Less than Carlots _._.. $2
Corn

Carlots: 22025 ee 70

Less than Carlots ._.. 74
Hay

Cariotes 200255 22 00

Less than Carlots —. 25 00
Feed

Street Car Feed —-.. 32 00

No. 1 Corn & Oat Fd 32 00

Cracked Corn 2.0 32 00

Coarse Corn Meal -. 32 00

FRUIT JARS

Mason, pts., per gro. 8 30
Mason, qts., per gro. 9 60
Mason, % gal., gross 13 80
Ideal Glass Top, pts. 9 50
Ideal Glass Top, qts. 11 40
Ideal Glass Top, %&

Seaton ooo 15 56
GELATINE

Cox's 1 doz. large _._ 1 46

Cox s 1 doz. smail _.. 90

wello-O, 3 doz, 2.0. 8 45

Knox’s Sparkling, doz. 2 25
Knox’s Acidu’d, doz. 2 25

Minute, ¢ doz, 2... 4 95
Nelsons «<0. ees 1 50
ONTOrd 3 eo 5

7
Plymouth Rock, Phos. 1 65
Plymouth Rock, Plain 1 35
Waukesha 220000. 1 60

 

 

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ij
7
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ae ppanacrnon:

 

 

a a

March 23, 1921
MI

CHIGAN TRADESMAN

37

 

  
   

 

  

 

 

HIDES AND PELTS
Green, No Ce precy
Green, No. 2 fos. 04 Barrel si edium Mince Meat
Cured, No. 1 Gee 03 Half Ea ya _ 18 00 prec oes No. 1 car. 2 00 SEEDS
ett Woe . 5 gallon kegs 0 count 10 00 ee brick 31 Anise ae s Chili Seasoning
See ie ae | Baers Brick 3 Sthaey.Snugnga “gg Celery Salt'3 om “$8 WOODENWARE
Caen. eo No. 2 06% Barrels oo. Pig’s Feet Celery 9 via aber 1 20 Sage > . ~4 0. .... alte askets
Gaitein a red, No. 1 10 Halt parca 0c 23 4 bhis, : es 7 Gntcr 2 1. sushels, narrow band
Sara. Wo a No. 2 084% 9° gallon Rees ey 4 Hbla. 35 ibe. 2 15 on for an v oe Gere Sat 1 a ane cana | oe
Horse, N : Seo oe . Gilaks % opis. ro ecg 3 75 M ca haan a ok 12 Ponelt ee 1 35 ” 1S 1els, narrow band
[ NO, 228 ae 100 Barrels Gherkins ie UL 10 90 ra. yellow 3% eirenen a Of. 9 35 BP he sr handles s-
oe te ces may = ---- to 2 30 a “ae Marke ' -eeere
Ola Pelts pe harroe a “ 0G) Rape 65 Laurel Heo magi ---- 3 25 Mather oo handle 1 00
oe 25@ 60 gallon kegs —---__- 3 00 Kits, 15 Ib _ ae. Gace To Ce ss 90 ek ade | 60
eS Se 95 oo i oe. UFF Savory. fon Splint, lar emcee
She —25@ 5 Sw bbls., 46 _ 90 Sy +. Oo ry ae splint, large
arlings ------—- eG eg Barrels ver one Ci ei Re Rares Mle 8 toe Thyme, 1 oz. -------- 90 Splint, medium ------ :°
ay Tallow gel harecia (2 “ eo 3 00 Norkoping, nee 2 » gis 85 eric, 2% of. .... 96 Sat, anal... 8 00
Sack allon keps (000 Norkoping. 8 for —_ 64 ce
No | Seas os er 650 Hogs Casings aicuniech. 6 glass -. 85 ST
oo ee PIPES ne L. Looe @65 Copenhagen. 1 1b 8 for 64 ARCH : Butter Plates
= Cob. 3 s ae round set ; 1 Ib. glass 85 Ki Corn Escanab
“ Wool ’ doz. in box 12 Beef, :.\iddle ---~ 22@24 ingsford, 40 Ib a Manufacturin
Unwashed, medi PLAYING -- 125 Sheep, a oe 50@60 SOAP Muzzy, 48 1 lb. S. ---- 11% Co -
Unwashed, pe @17_ No. 90 Steamb ——— , a skein 1 15@2 00 Proctor & G Powdered, bar pkgs. 9% Standard tin
wine ejects_. @10 No. 808, ice ---- 276 = Uncot 5 box lots pepmeonine oF Argo, 48 1 Ib. pire ape ard Emco Dishes
: Market dull and negl @i7y Piekett 22 e -—- 450 oc), . ored Oleomargarine Ivory, 766 @ as. wore pkgs. _. 3 76 No. 8-50 extra sm
: " ee 0 fo ay 28@29 wary Soap Fiks., 100s 9 = Sil Kingsford No. 8-50 small po 1 55
‘ PE pig ie Seay “i POTASH niry Bois ..__. 30@31 Lenox, Soap Fiks., 60s 4 60 ilver Gloss, 40 1 Ib. 11% No, £62 mam cus 1
Raccoon __ 3 00@50@25 Babbitt’s, 2 doz 4 >, & cakes ---_ 4 70 aro’ gue Saeee Cartem &
: wie 0 00@2 00@1 00 ote, ee RICE G. White Naptha a“ Gloss ao 8-50 extra Ig ca 2 14
Muskrais” 1 Ssetsmsomte FR Pe os ee wo gales ws neseag ¢ 49 Ate 12 5,10- pes. — 3 0 = ie een
; aa prices on ho Silo ESH MEATS. is eee Ten haa Nap. Pwadr. — 3 35 Sieep a ; Ib. ‘pkes.. ne 3 3 Mammoth -. 1 65
i ee a . Star Nap. Pwdr., 248 — sr Gloss, 16 3 Ibs.
a : Beef. ROL ., 248 _6 65 Silver Gloss, 1 Ibe. 11% 0S Barrel. 5 Churns
i an HONEY 7 Steers and Heifers 18 Monae ae OATS Lautz Br 2 6 lbs. 11% pla 5 gal., each _. 2 40
Airl 100d Steers ¢ ie narch, bbls A os. & Co rel, 10 gal
: irline, No. 10 Mea Ge. s and Heifers 16 Rolled Ave S$. ---.-_ 6 50 cme, 100 cakes 7 Mu 3 to 6 gal al., each -.2 55
: Airline, No. 15 _-.-_- mn OS Bd oe ein a Big Master, 100 blocks om 48 1 te pectare al., per gal. -_ 16
2 Airline, No. 2500 5 50 . Steers & Heifers 13 Monarch ave Ib. sks, 4 00 Climax, 100s o s 8 00 16 3 ik. ‘achaion inn 2%
HORSE RADISH 825 oy Cows. Gis ts bee a Umer. 20 —_____.. C4 1 6 ib pecknass —— $2
aco UCU Top, ---------------- 15 Quaker, 18 Regular -. 2 26 Queen White, a0 cakes 5 25 50 Ib. boxes nase SE oeneste ee
Pe ese oe, 1 60 ie 2 ioe Wamily _. 5 10 See Sell 1% ae a Manufact
Moun fe 13 Queen Anne, 1 akes 6 75 Co uring
oo Common 32 coumbia, % pints Tautz Naphtha, 100s" 8 00 cesina No. 60-24, Wrapped -. 6 10
’ ail, 30 Ib. 5 50 os) Columbia 1 pints __ 2 25 No s6.40 ‘rapped a
JELLY a. Durkee’s vei pint _. 4 00 Tradesman Company Barrels oe ). 25-60, Wrapped -. 5
GLASSES Good 16 Durkee’s ge, 1 doz. 7 06 Black Hawk Hall Borccla 75
4 8 0oz., per doz. 44 ay = Durkee’s Po. 2 7 65 ep Hawk. ana i ; - Blue pong ee ome 81
ie Hoderlsiia acer Reien 8 Snider's « io z. 3 50 ack Hawk, , 2d a 2 J £3 Cc
‘ MINC Co 2 snider’s large, m o ten bxs 47, G0z. —~- : N 9g Cases
None Such . ald Cane Lamb. - : Snider's small, : - 3 ae Doha contains 72 spn . Blue Karo, Ne. i 40 No. ’ coe anes _t¢@
cas Rie Z. 2000 -- = - = 8 most rem Of. . | No. 7" = Carrier os
cuiate for ..----.-_-__ —~ oom 21 SALERAT and grease re arkable dirt Blue Karo, No. 5, 1 dz. 3 60 No 1, Star Egg Trays ; 60
er, 3 doz C2 18 > US out inj mover, with- Blue K 5, 4 a2. 4 ’ Stuy Wee Seas 00
for - Case oor a ae i 60 Ibs. in b ut injury to the skin pi ore Wo 14° ov gg Tray 16 00
a 75 M ce irm and Hamm ox : ee we woe
MOLASSES is utton. Vyandotte, 100 % 3 — : 15 PE Stell. Powders oe Sate, Na ta 7 3 30
_ New Orlea ao ae a eS 14 -- #00 ¢ io, gross lots ga Begs | eu. Faucets
Fancy Ope ns si . 13 Sapolio, half S 50 ted Karo, N a 7 6 fe Cork lined, 3 i
‘Choice iad n Kettle ____ 95 ee il SAL SODA Sapolio, oe cee 6 30 doz. » NO. 2%, 2 Cork lined, 9 -—+-=~ 70
‘x00d omer 85 Pork. a Sranulated Sapolio, hand —.. es 3 br wed Karo, No. 5. 2 da 415 Cork lined, 10 ama 90
Stoek Cot ee 65 Heavy hogs -- : Canal: ed, bbls. ____ 2 50 Queen Anne, 60 pom 5 ted Karo, No. 10. dz. 4 00 + oeeee 90
Cle Wannee Era 2 coo 12 ulated, 100 sg Snow Maid, 60 ¢ ans 3 60 doz. a o
alf barrels 5c extra a ait hh foes 14 Granulated, 36 one cs 2 75 id, 60 cans __ 3 60 One + os
One pack = op Stic
Alm Se o and stags ~_----. : RO terete 3 00 Ss Washing Powders Fai Pure Cane icons —- — 3 25
10n Ne So 34 no FE Tair ’ a ba eg
Brazils, “large washe a3 Butts | ——- am a SALT wee tt as "t,o a ae er teens No. J ae ie
fancy Mixed red 31 Showers 1 “4 Snow Boy, 24 OZ. a. oa. 2, pat. brush hold 5
Biinerts. arociang 24 Hams -------- 16% Sol eae Bae ol ose.) Ue Ideal, No. 7 old 3 25
Peanuts oo se Spareribs w-------~ 22 56 Ib. se ar Rock y, 20 pkgs. 7 00 Mex cottan mao ead 3 00
, , Virgina oe aS - Sacks _ | : TAB 1202 co ’ mop heads 3
Te Virginia, raw 11 Neck bones. 28 co eee 75 Soap Powders ton & oe SAUCES OZ tton mop heads 2 os
Boni ee 13 Pp Coinmon Johnson’s Fine, 48 boca & Fa rin, large -_ 5 75
nuts, Spanist} ROVISIONS Granulat d, Johnson’s XX ha 2 6 & P errin, small 3
woe Cea = Basreied Perk Medium, gages _-.. 8 09 Lautz Niohihe a a 5 165 penne a. JS —_ 3 10 at. Gal Pails
nuts, Naples -- a ee ee 3 35 Nine O’C ’ a 60 ENTS ES oe — - ar ralvanized -
: or Slear Back __ 28 00@30.0 Oak Clete 4 10 en 2 50 12 qt. Galvanized ____ 3 25
dGeond Shelled Short Cut Clear 24 00@26 Ola oo 100 pkgs. 6 50 England’s Pride _____ 375 14 at. Galvaninas ane @ 18
oo Sa 55 Clear Family 34 00@36 00 Qu 2 Cleanser 4 75 a> ia... 140 Fibre ---- ---- ; 25
‘ » Spanish, - . ne, 60 pkgs. A-I, oo ae oa. 0 lc 7
ee box er a ae Dry Salt Meats Rub-No-More (oe 6 3 “ a4. 2 90
, Spanish, ee
Pebeie: Boe ag P Bellies _. 26 00@28 00 CLEANSERS. Shecnuitee taeeeae
eanuts, Spanish, _ i Manufacturing
- oo : ) 80 Ib, tub alte ITC noes No. 48, Bmnco.
3 »@ ¢ seoo---- 2 : | taps ak at ake _ , Eme
-_ Walnuts th A HF SH a an tg Pure in cc ae eas % f pusnin . HEN Medium Japan No. 100, gl vaSneocle itea 1 85
ee ee 55 Compound Lard 11 4% S Ghia = 38@42 No. 50-2500 Mics 3 75
OLIVE 69 lb. tubs eT ane 45@54 No. 100-2500 Emco 3 75
Bulk, 3 gal. k : 50 Ib. tubs oe ER Gacued- Wired ide 60@76 ) Emco -.. 7 00
, 0 £e ees o . s acked- a ae @7
ale con ee each 450 20 Ib. pails ----advance %4 Baske Hired Med'm
f Stuffed, ger kegs, each 7 20 10 ib. i oe % iTPQURE ec ees Choice . Traps
| Stuffed, 9 oS J 3s 5 Ib: pails “2 --advance Fg <1 a Mouse. wood. 4 holes —. 0
ee eet stulfed) 450 3 lb. pails ----advance 1 Sines, vas on Mouse. = : holes .. 70
Mesnenntlin ns 3 00 Smoked Meats Siftings, 1 lb. pkgs._— @23 Rat, wood 7 ---- 65
a Lunch, 10 5 BOOZ. 1145 Hams, 14-16 lb. 24 @26 G naa... 1 00
% Lunch, 16 OZ. _---_.__ 2 00 Hams 16-18 ib. 22 Per case, 24 2 lb Mov unpowder Mouse, spring _______ 1 00
ia Queen, Vv OF 395 Hams, 18-20 Ib. 20 @24 Five case lot ih Ee 2 40 M ane a 30
ie fammoth, 19 : Train: dwied bact 20 @22 on 2 2 30 Moyune, Choice ___- <0045
te Quee oe 5 60 Bets oo SALT : Tubs
' n, Mammoth, 28 Cotter. Pans @39 7. Chote Young Hyson No. 1 Fibre -
{ Ol. tte tee ese ieee ie 67 Picnie I ¥%@1T Middl ‘e PEC acters tee nt er ce a5 Noa 4 Bike 42 00
i ive 7. isc 75 . soiled wablete. wn 25 Fancy __ -- =eo No 3 teers — 38 00
| er doz. Tams —--~---- 34 , oe ott WEE A —otona “ee +...
eae sia Minced re -- 38 40 weak % ib, -- 999 b0 Oolong Mediur bey oF coe a a 5
aeineces ams oi o6e (beses 02 a Fo ue : Medium  Galvaniz u :
PEANUT BUTTER Bacon 2 - ou ------ ly Ba te __ 40@45 Small ea 9 25
Saugane g Hollanc Herring Formosa. ii -- 45@50 7 ’
pecans we iil 18 oe bbis, 16 O0 » Fancy -- 55@75 Washboards
nee - M., “1s 157 3anner Glob
Brankfort 2 12 Standards, kegs _—-- © 80 c _ English Breakfast B 7 oe 6 50
i a ee 2 fr Conats: Sore ~ ee an a 7 60
Neca... pela on os Genne Peay _.. 45@50 Double Peerks a 7 60
if Poneie oe e Herring Bie: ‘ DA Congou, Ex F -___ 50@60 Single Peerle ess ---. 9 50
é Headeheese (2000 1 Garb. Kegs _.. ’ Ex. Fancy 60@80 Northe 58 ----<- 9 00
. a. lw... 14 K K K K, Norw: 4 Tiniv rn Queen  — 7 60
a 8 Ib. pails 74S SPIC Cc “ae “ae
Boneless Gee Cut Even 1 40 Whol r Vekoe, Me awe a .
ei oan ss ---- 24 00@26 00 Scaled, per box __-__ 110 Allspice a Dr. Pumoe, ‘Che --- 40@45
i} Bel-Car-Mo Brand . new .. 25 00@2e 00 Boned, 10 Ib. boxes __ 24 Cloves, ' soiter @15 Flowery ca fase aaa Window Cleaners
>. 8 oz., 2 doz. i Canned a ‘assia, Canton —__--- aoe : Joeadaie 2 in. -----
“i eo ee n case _. Say Meats Trout Cassia, be pkg., doz. 22 co 1 65
a 12 2 Ib. ore co c Red Crown Brand No. 1, 100 Ibs ae ‘African’ ose o TWINE M6 he he ee +3
5 Ib. pails, 6 in crate corned Beef, 24 Is -_ 3 wt ae 12 Ginger, Cochin _----- Se. rl .
10 Ib. pails n crate Roast Beef, 24 1s log 60 No. 1, 10 he Mace, Penang ----.- - Cotton. 3 er cone ..... 56
15 Ib. pails “UT Veal Loaf, 48 %s ——- 1 G Net tie Mixed, No. 1” -------- Gis Wool, 6 oe 8 Ml load Geen
O5 Ib. paila 2 enna Style Sausage ne nay eee aes l,l 93 +13 in. Butter
50 Ib. tins _~ 48 Ys _- Be, Mack Mixed. Sc pkgs., doz. @16 i in, Bete 3 00
tg 100 1b. drums. Virginies, O46 tg ce, 1o ac Nutmegs, 70-8 — @45 VINE iT in. Bae 7 oe
ie PETR en ee ee 48 ia. . Pe Mess, 100 Ibs. 2 ne 110 “aay Cider, Bento gt oi. eer s oe
iN is eae a a 65 Mess, 50 Ibs. ------- 26 00 Popper, Whit @45 White Wine, sO grain” 20 os
iburger Ste |G Mose 10 Ihe! 20 spper, Thite ? ae — rain 20
Perfection a Barrels oo and Mess, bc on 300 Pepper. Ca Lh mete @40 ore Wine, 80 grain 36 WRA
: ie anced Gasoline _ ae 9 8: orned Bact ne ae 1-75. No. ¥, 106 The oe 295 Paprika on @22 1ite Wine, 100 grain 29 Fibre itt og PAPER
i xasS Machine G 5 48 No. 1. +o ------ 25 00 Pp : , = , Manila, whit
4 v. " asoline 40. Cooked Lunch Toneu er , ’ i bs ure Grou akle rT? No. 1 : e ll
i Capitol ime oo = Cooked Luneh i um Me. 1, ee - = Allspice, ashe iy Bulk - Oe ee * Pickle Butchers Manila “Sarasa 12
; Bbls ron C Be or reson 3 Cloves, Zé aap piace @17 Oak! Ae ands. Crate ----
t Atlantic A oso a fates a eminent nine 50.5 ‘ookedt Ox Tongues 50 Lake Herring Cassia, a 40 lata e-mail “ea lLUlUm 15
: iron Bi ed Engine, Chili Se "23 50 % bbl., 100 Ibs Gineer, Afri peal - @22 Oakland Whi Com __.. 28
Winter Blac ae 28.5 Sli i. on Carne, 48 1s 1 40 or 2.5 @24 Poaa os Pickling 20 YEAST CAKE
Bbis. _ ack, Iron Sliced ee medium 3 45 He SHOE BLACKING Mace, Penang > Bee — or manic. 3 doz. ---- 2 70
Polarine, Iron Bbis.-_ 18 Sliced ge i eS 00 pag Box, large 3 dz. 3 50 Nutmegs sae ae @34 err ye ee
7" 59.5 Sliced Beef, oly aaa 1 90 Hiive woe 4 op eee ace woo. Na. 6 WICKING eer i in
_ Miller’ a olish 135 P 7) iid eae Na per grogs ._... 7 Ye ‘ oa. .. 3 19
ote fae eo, “Ren oo ke } me ee --- - ast Foam, 1% doz. 1 35
a, Hungarian__ @e60 ae 3" se ree .... 1 25 YEAST—COMPRE
’ gross _._.190 * leischman, per ja 8

 

 

  

38

 

Bankruptcy News in the Grand Rapids
District.

Grand Rapids, March 14—On this day
was held the adjourned first meeting in
the matter of Santo Scaccia, bankrupt
No. 1931. The bankrupt was present in
person and by J. R. Gillard, his attorney.
The trustee was present in person. Cred-
itors were represented by L. C. Palmer.
Several more claims were proved against
the estate. The bankrupt was’ then ex-
amined without a reporter and some dis-
cussion was had as to the best method
of disposing of the property of the bank-
rupt. Perer Piccus, a cheese dealer of
Chicago, IlL., was present and made a
verbal report of the sale of the balance
of the cheese which was stored in his
establishment at the date of adjudication
and paid to the trustee the amount of
the same, after deducting the commission
due him and the expenses of the disposal
of the same. The trustee also reported
that $5.45 had been collected by him
through the mail. The meeting was then
adjourned without date.

March 15—In the matter of the Sim-
plicity Wheel Co., bankrupt No. 1926, the
offer of Paul Hoek for one ford car and
two ford trucks in the sum of $400, to-
gether with an agreement to waive and
renounce his two ordinary claims against
the estate, was considered and the same
approved and allowed. The offer of the
Shank Fireproof Storage Co. in the sum
of $430 for the ford power plants in stor-
age there was accepted and approved.
The offer of W. D. Rearwin in the sum
of $20 for the junk located at 716 Mon-
roe avenue was accepted and approved.
The offer of the Guaranty Bond and
Mortgage Co. in the sum of $2,534.47, plus
the accrued storage charged, for the 300
crates of wheels was accepted and an
order made confirming the same. The
offer of the Schaslafsky Auto Parts Co.
in the sum of $1,500 for the merchandise
and fixtures at 133 Michigan street, was
considered and William Maxwell having
offered $3,500 for the same, the former
offer was not approved and the latter
approved. The meeting was then ad-
journed without date. :

On this same day was held the sales
of the various portions of the estate
of Fred W. French, bankrupt No. 1919.
A sale had been set and notices sent to
all of the creditors in this estate and
various offers were received for the sev-
eral portions of the assets. The bank-
rupt was not present. The trustee was
present in person and by attorneys,
Wicks, Fuller & Starr. Several creditors
were present in person and many pros-
pective purchasers. The offer of the
Guaranty Bond & Mortgage Co., in the
sum of $2,521.88, plus storage accrued, for
all the tires and tubes stored at the
Shank Fireproof Storage Co., was con-
sidered and, no one showing causé why
the same should not be accepted, it was
accepted and approved. The matter of
the sale of the remaining of the assets
of this estate was then taken up and it
being moved that the trustee be author-
ized to sell any or all of the remaining
property at public or private sale was
considered and, by the unanimous vote of
the creditors, the plan was adopted and
the trustee authorized to proceed in eith-
er of the manners proposed. The meeting
was then adjourned without date.

March 16—The first meeting in the mat-
ter of the Identity Cigar Co. was held
on this day. The bankrupt was present
by Arnold Groger, its secretary and treas-
urer. Travis, Merrick, Warner & John-
son and Taggart & Kingston were pres-
ent. Several claims were proved. The
creditors failing to elect a trustee, the
referee appointed George B. Kingston as
such, and fixed the amount of his bond
at $1,000. Arnold Groger was then sworn
and examined. The referee and receiver
made a report of the appointment of a
custodian and appraisers and that the
inventory and appraisal had been duly
filed. The report of the referee and re-
ceiver was approved. The meeting was
then adjourned to April 5.

On this day was received the copies
of the schedules and order of reference
in the matter of Stanley Palluzyk, alleged
bankrupt. At the time of the filing of
the schedules the bankrupt also made an
offer of compensation to the creditors.
The order of reference from the district
court contained the stay of adjudication
until the offer of composition could be
brought to the attention of the creditors
of the bankrupt and when it could be de-
termined as to whether or not the cred-
itors would accept the bankrupt’s offer.
Notices have been sent to the creditors
of the bankrupt that March 29, has been
fixed by the referee as the day when the
offer of composition will be considered
and passed upon by the creditors. The
meeting will be held at 315 Houseman
building, Grand Rapids, and all creditors
of the bankrupt are requested to attend
and assist in the determination as to the
question of composition. The bankrupt,
trading as the Boston Bargain Store in
Muskegon, a retail store. The creditors
of the bankrupt are as follows:

Ainsworth Shoe Co., Chicago ____$ 350.00

Alttuan & Co. Chicace 98.00
A. B. Crozier, Detroit ~ ens, 70.92

A. Schultz, Chicago ic _ 80.00
Augusta Knitting Corporation,
nN.

Utica. pi us oe eke
Butler Bros., Chicago _ ee a 980.79
Bium Bros... Chicaso ..._. . Beg.76
Bray Robinson Co., Louisville . 156.00
gerry & Benson, Chicago - a 194.50
Burnham Stoeple Co., Detroit ____ 1,295.77
B. Berman & Co., Detroit . ne 238.31
Crowley Bros., Detroit i eS

 

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

Cohen Bros. & Co., Milwaukee__ 1,267.10

Carson Pirie & Scott Co., Chicago 24.86

Cluett Peabody & Co., Chicago__ 108.20

Daniel T. Patton & Co., Grand R. 366.38

Kindicott Johnson Co., Endicott,
N :

hae ee 497.29
Ellsworth & Thayer Mfg. Co., Mil-

Wah e 305.90
Franklin Shoe Co., Boston _____- 1,293.08
Frank & Meyers Neckwear Co.,

fet, Cee ae 132.16
Guthman Carpenter & Telling,

Chica Oo 6 682.10
G. R. Dry Goods Co., Grand Rapids 27.88
Grip Bow Tie Co., Omaha ______ 7.25

G. R. Calendar Co., Grand Rapids 31.50
L. A. Gardner Leather Co., St.

36.33
Hirth-Krause Co., Grand Rapids 638.64
i. 14, Witline Co., Detroit =. 918.81

Harris Suspender Co., New York _ 87.00
J. W. Jackson & Sons, Indianapolis 877.50

Joseph F. Platt, Grand Rapids _- 32.55
Ss. & oH, Levy, New. York 1,025.29
Luedke Shaffer Shoe Co., Mil-

WAUMKeO 2. 152.40
Melze-Alderton Shoe Co., Saginaw 383.76
Cc, . Mills, Grand Rapids 2... 434.37
McElwain Shoe Co., Chicago __._. 413.2
Parrotte McIntyre Co., Chicago __ 99.00
Porter Bros. Hat Co., Chicago .. 123-75
Regal Spear Hat Co., Chicago —. 532.50
Robinson Gros., Toledo ___.._._ 1,049.24
Rosenthal & Goldberg, New York 386.00
R. P. Smith & Sons, Chicago _. 131.50
Sterling Hosiery Co., Chicago —__ 75.82
Sells Cohwab & Co., Chicago _..__ 356.91
Standard Garment Co., Toledo _._ 235.25
Stone Glove Factories, Chicago __ 93.75
Symons Bros. & Co., Saginaw _. 240.15
S. Steindler Paper Co., Muskegon 104.50
Spartan Mde. Co,, Dayton _. 117.50
D. Cc. Vactor & Co., Cleveland _. 43.59
Wollson Co., (hivazo .__.. 80.25

Beacon Falls Rubber Co., Chicago 175.84
Western Gorp & Trunk Co., Mil-

WOR eee
Western Garment Manufacturing

Co,, Milwaukee — 2.002 133.50
Western Hosiery Co., Chicago _. 412.31

The following are notes and trade ac-
ceptances, while the foregoing were all
debts due on open account.

Loseph Maulik, Kalamazoo __-$ 500.00
Theodore Kleimik, Lansing _____-_ 2,500.00
Peter Povistoek, Muskegon _____- 900.00

The total of the bankrupt’s assets is

$12,800 and liabilities aggregate $23,471.10.

8
Particulars of the Death of Fred H.
Ball.

Fred H. Ball, sales manager and as-
istant buyer for the Lewiston Mercan-
tile Co., was found dead in his bed at
the Thompson apartments’ yesterday
afternoon at 5 o’clock, death resulting
from an obstruction of the intestines and
chronic appendicitis. Mr. Ball was about
50 years old.

The news of the sudden passing away
of this estimable man will cause a pro-
found shock among his many friends and
acquaintances in this city and section.

Just last Monday Mr. Ball was able
to leave St. Joseph’s hospital after a
ten days’ stay, going there for treatment
for appendicitis, as diagnosed by physi-
cians for months past, and after careful
treatment at the hands of Dr. F. P.
Nourse, following his refusal to undergo
an operation as had been advised many
times was necessary to restore his health,
he left the hospital greatly improved.
He returned to his apartment and was
ordered by his physician to remain at
rest for several days before resuming his
desk at the Mercantile company, with the
further admonition to eat sparingly and
condition himself.

Yesterday ‘afternoon at about 1 o’clock
Mr. Ball telephoned Dr. Nourse and com-
plained of a pain in the region of his
appendix. Dr. Nourse enquired if he was
wanted at once, and Mr. Ball replied
that there was no hurry; to come at any
convenient moment. Dr. Nourse visited
the hospital shortly before 5 o'clock and
immediately afterward stepped over to
see Mr. Ball. He rapped at the door
several times and upon receiving no re-
sponse tried the door and found it un-
locked. He entered and found the dead
body of Mr. Ball, reclining on his bed
and clothed.

Only a couple of hours before the news
of Mr. Ball’s death was made known,
an intimate friend of his called him by
telephone and advised that he intended
visiting him a few minutes during the
evening, and incidentally enquiring as to
the state of his health. Mr. Ball called
back in cheerful manner that he was feel-
ing fine and would be prepared for the
visit.

Dr. Nourse found the body still warm
when he entered the room, showing that
death had overtaken Mr. Ball but a short
time before. His room showed that he
had partaken of a hearty meal during
the afternoon, there being evidence of
this.

Mr. Ball is survived by a son, Charles
H. Ball, Seattle, who will arrive in Lew-
iston to-day in response to a telegram
sent by Mr. Stacy; a daughter in Kan-
sas City and a sister in the East. Ar-
rangements for interment await the ar-
rival of his son.

With the passing of Fred H. Ball the
grocery business loses one of its oldest
members and the industry one of its
best friends and the city one of its best
citizens. He was identified with the
wholesale grocery business for more than
a quarter century.

Mr. Ball originally came from Grand
tapids, Mich., where he was connected
with a large house, and until coming to

the Lewiston Mercantile company last
June served as assistant manager of the
Potlatch Mercantile company at Potlatch.

He was a man of exceptional character,
loved by all who knew him and one
whose loss will be keenly felt by the
many with whom he came in daily con-
tact and who will ever miss his cheer-
ful smile and gentle manner. :

Mr. Ball was a member of the Masonic
lodge of Grand Rapids, Mich., a Shriner;
affiliated with the Spokane Commercial
Travelers’ Association and other organ-
izations—-Lewiston (Idaho) Times.

oO
The Hotel’s Obligation To Guests.

How far does the obligation of a
hotel company to its guests extend?
The question occurs to us because of
an incident in a prominent Columbus,
Ohio, hotel last week. A guest was
sticken with apoplexy early on Thurs-
day morning, and fell in the bath
room door. He lay helpless as he fell
all day Thursday, all night Thursday
night, and until late in the afternoon
Friday, before he was found.

When finally discovered it was be-
cause friends outside the hotel went
to his room and insisted that it should
be opened. For two full days of day-
light his room was not entered by any
hotel attache. One goes to bed in a
hotel usually, feeling that if illness or
death comes to him during the night,
his plight will surely be discovered
the next day. It would seem that in
any hotel guest chambers should be
visited at least once a day.

—_+++___

Poison Gas Serving Humanity.

Poison gas is being used in the
South to exterminate the boll weevil.
A plague of locusts is being banished
in the Philippines by gassing. Fifteen
minutes of gas along the wharves and
under water-front buildings killed
every rat in the area where it was em-
ployed. Thus we have the modern
changing of swords into pruning
hooks, by utilizing the most infernal
of war devices to rid our peaceful
fields and urban structures of destruc-
tive pests. It is better to battle with
the enemies of crops and of food than
with men.

March 23, 1921

 

Chocolates

 

Package Goods of
Paramount Quality
and
Artistic Design

 

 

 

Bond Printing

Is a Business in Itself

 

 

It requires not-only the
proper Bond Blanks but
a knowledge of Bonds
coupled with skill and
painstaking care.

We Have the Blanks
We Have the Skill
We Use the Care

BOND PRINTING

IS OUR BUSINESS

We undoubtedly print more Bonds
than any other printers
in Michigan

 

 

TRADESMAN COMPANY

 

 

Ceresota

watched carefully.

than it is now.

Fanchon

FLOUR ©

We don’t urge any merchant to overstock
on flour. But we do believe that present con-
ditions of wheat supply in reserve should be
There might come a time
when flour will be just a little harder to get
Don’t overstock, but watch
your stocks between now and spring; a little
flour on hand will not hurt much. Buy as you
need it with a little margin for safety’s sake.

Aristos

Red Star

 

 

“GRAND RAPIDS

 

JUDSON GROCER CO.

MICHIGAN

 

 

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Ae ES eR ROI

   

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sesepaascliv,

219 ressaeapnemetrnmemnrenr

 

March 23, 1921

Development of Fruit Culture.

There are very few more interesting
enterprises of the United States Gov-
ernment than its development of fruit
culture. Probably never before in the
history of the world has a Govern-
ment done so much to alter the diet
of its citizens as has our own. A hun-
dred years ago the richest man in the
United States was strictly limited in
the choice of fruits which appeared
upon his table. Even fifty years ago
the banana was absolutely unknown
as an article for diet. The first banana
was brought to the United States as
late as 1872 and it has only been since
about 1890 that they can be said to
have formed any part of our daily
diet. At the present time they occupy
a very prominent part of our food,
and have become a necessity instead
of a luxury.

The development of the grapefruit
industry has been more remarkable,
and in turn, has led to other fruits
being cultivated, which have widely
increased ou range of diet.

It is doubtful if this progress would
ever have taken place without the
constant initiative and helpfulness of
our Department of Agriculture, which
has not merely introduced new fruits,
but also greatly improved the old
The apple and pear would soon
go to seed if they were not constantly
strengthened by fresh graftings and
cuttings.

It has been discovered that during
the Middle Ages practically no fruit
was eaten on the average table. The
absence of sugar in large quantities
prevented what is now called preserv-
iing. As late as 1530 lettuce was un-
known in England and Shakespeare
refers to rice as a costly luxury. The

Ones.

writer has seen the first orange tree,

that was brought to Europe, almost
exactly 400 years ago. The orange
was confined to Spain and Portugal
until the Peninsula -War, 1808-14,
when the British brought
home large numbers thereof to Eng-
land and also introduced marmalade
to the British Isles. Wars are great
diversifiers of diet. The Japanese
learned to eat meat on a large scale as

soldiers

a result of the Russo-Japanese War.

So long as nothing was’ known
about the diseases of. fruit trees, it
was extremely difficult to raise fruit
on any large scale. In this field the
Department of Agriculture has ren-
dered invaluable service. The acids
contained in many of the newer kinds
of fruits are particularly useful for our
diet.

A
The Virtue of Backbone.

The recent wholesale
grocers’ organizations throughout the
country in collecting comparable data
as to credit outstandings has had a
distinctly beneficial influence upon
grocery trade collections and. recent
reports indicate distinct gains in keep-
ing outstandings “close hauled.” No
end of preaching generalities would
have accomplished half so much as
actual presentation of comparable
facts.

There is a vast deal of correspond-
ence going on within the trade in-
dicating great interest which prevails
on the subject, and many are disposed
to solicit advice at the hands of those
who are known to have achieved

activity of

MICHIGAN T

marked success in keeping outstand-
ings at the minimum. The New York
Wholesale Grocers’ Association re-
cently wrote through Secretary Foster
to an anonymous house which had
stood at the top of the efficiency list,
with only 48 per cent. of the month’s
business unpaid, asking for advice.
The head of the house addressed, who
admits that he “has earned the reputa-
tion among his own salesmen as well
as among customers oi being a crank
on credits” and frankly confesses de-
serving the reputation, gives the fol-
lowing formula for the guidance of
his fellow grocers:

“Our formula is simple. We grant
credit to parties of known responsi-
bility in liberal or unlimited amount
for thirty days. We allow a discount
of-1 per cent. for cash if paid within
ten days from date of shipment. We
allow no discount after ten days. We
discontinue filling orders where bills
are over thirty days old, unpaid. We
have followed this practice for so
many years that not only our own
customers but others have been edu-
cated to our rules and we have little
difficulty in applying them. In fact,
few seek to disregard them.”

—_—__-+ - <____
Pushing Small Oranges.
“Small-sized oranges are the best to

,

buy now” is the title of a special bulle-
tin which is being sent to 100,000 lead-
ing retailers in the United States and
Canada by the California Fruit Grow-
ers’ Exchange to suggest special sell-
ing methods for- marketing small-sized
oranges. This season’s crop has an
proportion of the
smaller sizes, due to growing condi-
tions in California.
are asked to “consider the attractive
prices at which these small szies can
be sold and net a good profit.” A
price chart is reproduced to show a
satisfactory profit.

unusually large

Retail merchants

“This size situa-
tion is not a new one,” says the state-
ment.
year.

“Growing conditions vary each
A similar situation existed sev-
eral years ago when there was an
abundance of small-sized oranges and
Merchants
at this time learned how to turn it to
their advantage.
did it: 1.
prices the small-sized oranges, which
were then in most plentiful supply.
2. They displayed large quantities of
the smaller oranges in the window all
the time. 3. Instead of pricing the
small oranges in the customary way,
‘by the dozen,’ they featured them in
larger quantities by the peck, basket,
bushel, half box and box. 4. Many
offered odd quantities for even money

a scarcity of larger sizes.

This is how they
They bought at attractive

such as ‘19 oranges for 50 cents,’ ‘five
dozen for a dollar,’ etc., depending
on size and cost per box, so that each
customer bought more than the usual
dozen. 5. They made one day each
week an orange day, when they fea-
tured oranges as a leader at bargain
prices and thus attracted trade to their
other lines.”
~~» —___

Didn’t Mean It So.

?

boasted one sales-

man, ‘“‘are always in the van.”

NOMr pianes’

“Yep!” sneered the salesman of a
rival make, “in the moving van com-
ing back from where they’ve been on
trial.”

RADESMAN

39

 

If set in capital tetters, double price.

BUSINESS WANTS DEPARTMENT

Advertisements Inserted under this head for five cents a word the first
Insertion and four cents a word for each subsequent continuous Insertion.
No charge less than 50 cents.
display advertisements in this department, $3 per Inch.
is required, as amounts are too small to open accounts.

Small
Payment with order

 

 

Chicago Business Chances
Photographer’s Shop ____-__$ 9,000.00
Movie Theatre _....._..___._. 15,000.00
Safety Vaults & Real Estate 20,000.00
Store & Rooming House _-__ 27,000.00
Full details given on request.
Charles, 4350 Armitage Ave., Chicago

 

For Sale—Cash registers, store fixtures.
Dick’s Fixture Co., Muskegon. 6

Pay spot cash for clothing and fur-
nishing goods stocks. L. Silberman, 106
E. Hancock, Detroit. 566
Will pay cash for whole stores or part
stocks of merchandise. Louis Levinsohn,
Saginaw, Mich. 998

 

INVESTMENT $10,000 to $15,000—If
you can fill the position as Treasurer and
act on the Board of Directors with a food
manufacturing concern, get in touch with
us immediately. Do not answer unless
you can make this investment and fill the
position. Address No. 252, c-o Michigan
Tradesman. 252

 

HERE is a chance to make big money
on a capital of $150. Our egg preserver
will keep fresh eggs fresh fourteen
months. No cold stcrage required. Keep
in a cool room in an ordinary egg case
in a well ventilated room. Will give re-
sponsible party exclusive sale in the state
of Michigan for two years with the right
to sub-let counties. These goods are pat-
ented in the United States and Canada.
Write for particulars to the Fleming Egg
Preserver Co., Fifty cent can by parcel
post, which will put away fifty dozen
eggs. Fleming Egg Preserver Co., 4339
Prairie Ave., Chicago, Ill. 253

 

Wanted—Stock of general merchandise
in good farming town on railroad. Write
full particulars in first letter. Address
No. 254, c-o Michigan Tradesman. 254

 

Hardware Stock For Sale—In Southern
Illinois, county seat, town of 2,000. Only
one other hardware store. Good dairy
centér. Coal options selling now close
to city. Ninety-five per cent of farmers
own their own land and are in the dairy
business. It is straight shelf hardware
stock, no wire or implements. Have
plumbers’ and tinners’ tools. Doing $30,-
000 with $8,000 to $9,000 investment. Cash
only. Address Box 301, McLeansboro,
Th.

200

 

For Sale—One Toledo computing seale,
weighs up to thirty pounds, for $40. One
large coffee mill, stands on floor, for
$12. One computing cheese knife with
aluminum case, for $6.. Above all in good
condition. J. A. Collins, Otsego, Mich.
256

 

Wanted—To rent small store suitable
for lunch room, in any good town. Harry
Baker, 1716 Todd Ave., Lansing, Mich.

OKA
257

WANTED—To trade our clear, unin-
cumbered farm and income properties for
merchandise anywhere. PHILLIPS MER-
CANTILE CO., Manchester, Tenn. 258

IMPLEMENT BUSINESS of the late
Charles Howland, located at Pontiae,
Mich., for sale on inventory. Would
consider good security as part payment.
Address Mrs. Charles Howland, Pontiac,
Mich. 259

INVESTIGATE—Good Iowa farms trade
for merchandise stocks. Pay difference
in cash. William Adams, 339 Reed St.,
Waterloo, Iowa. 260

 

 

 

Wanted—Any salesman who is out of
employment will find it to his advantage
to call at 425 Kelsey Building, Grand
Rapids. C. H. Phillips. 261

 

Wanted—A good general store in 4g
country town on railroad or interurban.
Write particulars in first letter. B. Hen-
driksen, 967 Tamarack Ave., Grand Rap-
ids, Mich. 262

For Sale—Grocery store
business.

262

 

doing good
Poor health reason for selling.

S. B. Meormick, 402 BH. Central Ave.,

Pontiac, Mich. 263

FOR SALE or Exchange—By owner,
best located thirty-acre fruit, berry, and
poultry farm in Berrien county. On stone
road and interurban railway. Grade
school, churches, stores, bank, and mar-
ket right at door. Best American neigh-
bors. House modern, with telephone.
Can subdivide farm into small tracts or
village lots. Will exchange for well lo-
cated general store in railroad town in
good farming section, if good, live news-
paper in town. F. M. Witbeck, Benton
Harbor, Mich. 264

 

FOR SALE—Grocery and bakery in live
town in Calhoun county, doing $250 of
business a week, with dwelling rooms
above. Cheap rent, and lease for four
years. Address No. 242, care Michigan
Tradesman. 242

 

Bell Phone 596 Citz. Phone 61366

JOHN L. LYNCH SALES CO.
SPECIAL SALE EXPERTS
Expert Advertising
Expert Merchandising
209-210-211 Murray Bldg.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

 

2,000 letter heads $5.90. Samples. Cep-
per Journal, Hancock, Michigan. 160

BANISH THE RATS—Order a can of
Rat and Mouse Embalmer and get rid of
the pests in one night. Price $3. Trades-
man Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

 

CASH REGISTERS

REBUILT baa REGISTER CoO.

c.
122 North Washington Ave.,
Saginaw, Mich.

We buy sell and exchange repair and
rebuild all makes,
Parts and supplies for all makes.

Wanted—For cash, stock of general
merchandise in country town on rail
road. Will rent or buy buildings. Write
all particulars in first letter, to No. 248
c-o Michigan Tradesman. 248

For Sale-—-Second-hand drug fixtures,
already set up to go to work. Worth
$1,000, $500 cash takes them. Address
Fixtures care Michigan Tradesman. 251

 

 

if you are thinking of going in busi-
ness, selling out or making an exchange,
place an advertisement in our business
chances columns, as it will bring you in
touch with the man for whom you are
looking—THE BUSINESS MAN.

 

FIRE AND
BURGLAR
PROOF

AFE

 

 

Grand Rapids
Safe Co.

Tradesman Building

 

 

   

40

MICHIGAN TRADESMAN

   

March 23, 1921

 

IN HER OWN TIME AND WAY.

Kronstadt has fallen. Its guns are
stilled. Its defenders have gone the
way of the legions of Kolchak and
Denikine. They are streaming out of
the Kronstadt area as the broken
Wrangel forces fled from the Crimea
last year. The Soviets have triumph-
ed once again, and the red flag is
still the banner of what remains of
a disintegrating empire.

Not yet are the Russian masses
able and ready to throw off the yoke
of madness forged for them by the
Commune. The Russ is still inarticu-
late. His very numbers and the con-
fusion of tongues in his vast land
weigh upon him. His groping hands
have not found the weapon that will
help him back to the fellowship of
free nations. But the ferment is
working in Russia. The Kronstadt
affair is evidence of this. Having dis-
posed of one set of autocrats, the Rus-
sian will eventually find his own way
of setting the feet of these latter-day
tyrants on the highroad to oblivion.
Time is working against the Com-
mune. Time and _ that inexorable
logic of circumstances that breeds
movements and topples thrones and
marches straight on without the shad-
ow of a turning.

Despite the protestations of the
Moscow authorities, the Kronstadt in-
cident appears to have been a Rus-
sian affair. It is the most natural
thing in the world that all the old
excuses and phrases blaming the cap-
italists of the Entente and the Rus-
sian emigres should be so pat upon
the official lips at Moscow. But it
was the metal workers, the printers
and the sailors of Kronstadt who rais-
ed the flag of rebellion at the fortress.
Certainly these were more Russian
than the Chinese mercenaries and the
Lettish levies whose bayonets hold
the Soviet power in its place.

Russia is old and Russia moves
slowly. Time creeps in the land of
the Muscovite. Generations went in-
to the shaping of the hour when the
czar passed from the stage. In her
own time and in her own way Russia
and her people will deal with the
Commune and the Communists.

 

UNEMPLOYMENT CONTINUES.

A second report on unemployment
issued by the United States Employ-
ment Service does not confirm the be-
lief expressed by some employers,
when the first report was issued some
weeks ago, that there would be an
early resumption of normal industrial
activity. The figures show unemploy-
ment continuing at practically the
same point. Officials of the A. F. of L.
assert, on the basis of union estimates
that the Government figures do not
adequately indicate the real situation
and that over 4,000,000 people are out
of work in the United States. The
published summary of Government
statistics unfortunately does not show
the number of unemployed, but simply
the number employed in sixty-five in-
dustrial centers. Only three indus-
tries—textiles, vehicles (especially au-
tomobiles) and leather—show an in-
crease in employment. This is offset
by the fact that certain basic indus-
tries, such as iron, steel and their
products, railroad repair shops and

chemicals and allied products, show a
marked drop in activity for the period
of the last survey. Revival in Eastern
centers is balanced by depression in
Central and Western centers.

The situation emphasizes one pri-
mary duty confronting the new Sec-
retary of Labor. His department
faces other immediately pressing
problems in the handling of sharp con-
flicts in Nation-wide industries, involv-
ing wages and hours, fomented by the
infamous Gompers and his gangs of
slackers, slovens, incompetents and
dynamiters. Nevertheless, the consist-
ent study of employment problems is
an enduring necessity. Development
of a permanent programme for pub-
lic information, employment service,
and constructive relief when emergen-
cies make it necessary would be one
of the highest services that a Depart-
ment of Labor could render to the
workers and employers of the Nation.

 

THE UNSPEAKABLE TURK.

From the way in which Western
diplomacy is now playing into the
hands of the Turk, it would seem that
all the lesson of centuries of misrule
and bloody massacre, chiefly at the
expense of the Armenians, is utterly
lost by those who have been hood-
winked by the Turk and are enamored
of murderers. Those who side with
the Turk are compounding a felony
against civilization. They are support-
ing all that the opinion of respectable
mankind opposes. They give coun-
tenance to monstrous infamies -and
bloody villany without a parallel.
What on earth has the Turkish Gov-
ernment done that it should be per-
mitted to live and that it should ac-
tually be received with professions of
favor, and even friendship, by those
whose eyes should have been wide
open to the real Turk long ago?

We are speaking of the Turk not
as an individual, but as a governing
factor. It seems true that Turkish
soldiers in the field were often found
to be chivalrous foemen and that some
Turks of the old regime have been
kind, honorable, charitable neighbors
to the distressed. But the Young
Turk movement, whose chief prota-
gonists have been Enver Pasha and
the murdered Talaat, has disappointed
the hope of the world for better
things, and has finally shown how
empty are the professions of reform
when detached from conduct. Much
of the sacrificial cost of the war has
gone for naught if it leaves the ruling
Turk the same free agent in the
Levant that he was before 1914.

 

AS A MAN THINKETH.

A former Vice-President does not
like to have a black cat cross his
path, and will not walk under a ladder.
Superstition is in the blood of all of
us. We know a man, almost down
and out, who began to prosper when
he started to put on his trousers left
leg first every morning, thinking, as
he did so, “this will be a profitable
and prosperous day for me in my
business.”

Autosuggestion, therapeutics ap-
plied to a sick business, of course.
But it worked. It is said every man
has at least one pet superstition, in-
herited from ancestors who were
ruled all their lives by superstition.

RADIUM AND CANCER.

Mme. Pierre Curie has consented
to come to America because here she
is to receive the thing she most de-
Strange as it may seem this
woman who has discovered radium,
who knows more than any one else
about it, who is best qualified to dis-
cover its further usefulness, has no
radium of her own. When recently
asked what she most wished for in
all the world she replied that all she
wanted was a gram of radium for
experimental purposes. As a tribute
to this world benefactor, American
women are raising a fund of $100,000
to purchase the necessary gram of
radium that Mme. Curie may con-
tinue her important investigations.
Rather than to raise this money in a
short time by depending on a few
women of large means, the committee
in charge is anxious to have it truly
representative of the women of
America, and is therefore urging the
general public to send contributions
to the Mme. Curie Radium Fund,
Equitable Trust Company, New York.

The United States, perhaps more
than any other nation, has been using
radium for the cure of cancer, with
results that are increasingly satisfac-
tory, although the progress of the
disease is far from checked. It takes
an annual toll in America of 90,000
lives, and according to the latest re-
ports increased 6.6 per cent. last year.
In certain cases radium can be best
employed by itself. Often it is a val-
uable adjunct to operations. The
great advantages in the use of rad-
ium are that the treatment is quite
painless, there is no interference with
the patient’s routine of life, and no
operative shock is entailed.

sires.

The destruction of a cancer by
radium is like the destruction of an
army. In war, the two methods em-
ploved are to shoot down the enemy
and cut off his supplies. So cancer
is attacked by radium rays directly
and at the same time prevented from
making further growth. The effective-
ness of radium depends upon the tre-
mendous power of penetration which
its rays possess. The action of rad-
ium when exhibited at the American
Museum of Natural History many
years ago will long be remembered
by those who were interested enough
to be present. A small vial contain-
ing some radium was placed behind a
huge rock and the room darkened.
Almost immediately the vial could
be seen as clearly as though the rock
were not present. Rays such as these,

more powerful than any _ others
known, are being used to combat
cancer. But, as in the less desirable

form of war, the cost of ammunition
is high.

 

DRAWBACKS OF BIG COUNTRY

There are many advantages in hav-
ing a country as large as the United
States with its diversities of climate
and products. But there are also
some drawbacks. One of the latter

is the long distances that so often
intervene between the places of pro-
duction and those of consumption.
This is a factor of more importance
in these days of high freight rates
Long hauls to

than it used to be.

 

market add much more to the cost
of commodities than they did and the
cost of them is apt to overcome the
advantages which location would
otherwise give. When it comes to
the grains, the freight rates come
out of the price which the farmer
would otherwise receive. The same
applies to many other foodstuffs.
With manufactured goods, and espec-
ially those which are bulky or heavy
in proportion to their value, it is ad-
vantageous to have them made in
places from which there is cheap
transportation to the centers where
they are mainly consumed. So, sim-
ilarly with the raw materials which
enter into manufacture, there is every
inducement to place the mills and fac-
tories which use them in close prox-
imity to where they are produced.
The location of the iron and steel
centers and of cotton mills in the
Southern States are instances in
point. In the export trade business
is checked at times because of the
expense of getting certain products
to tidewater. Smaller and more com-
pact countries like Great Britain,
France and Germany have advantages
in this respect. But the theory on
which they work is that most of their
prosperity is dependent on foreign
trade, while the one inculcated here
for a long period was not that of the
internal trade of the country as a
whole, but rather that of neighbor-
hood trade. The idea was that the
presence of a mill or factory at a
place was good because it gave the
neighboring farmers a chance to sell
their products to the operatives. This
parochial notion not yet been
abandoned.

has

 

CANNED GOODS SITUATION.
~ The canned food distributor is plod-
ding along peddling out his stocks
much as if he were a wagon boy mak-
ing the rounds among housewives to
effect ‘sales for immediate consump-
tion. That is his business, even
though he does it in a more dignified
and impressive manner. The distribu-
tor is selling to the retailer, not for
future use but moderate sized blocks
which will be promptly turned over
to the consumer. Quantity sales are
becoming less extraordinary as the
period of heavier consumption draws
near, but the backbone of the market
is in smaller orders. Hand-to-mouth
buying indicates a lack of interest in
future requirements and hence in the
1921 pack, and such is the case. No
market can be said to have been es-
tablished as buying interest is so lax.

 

“Things Worth While.”
Not what you get,
But what you give;
Not what you say,
But how you live;
Giving the world the love it needs,
Living a life of noble deeds.
Not whence you came,
But whither bound;
Not what you have,
But whether found
Strong for the right,
The good, the true.
These are the things
Worth while to you.
———_@—~

A Miracle.

I had a little Joy
Fresh as a budded leaf,
Life trampled it to bits,
And changed it to a Grief.

But when my Grief became
A worn, beloved toy,
Life broke it all to bits,
And changed it back to Joy.
Charlotte Becker.

 

 

 

 

pia LOREEN! EE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It Pays to Stop Occasionally and
Look Things Over

 

HE fisherman who is too lazy to pull up his line occasionally to see :! his bait is
all right, will eat pork for his supper.

The business man who does not keep a keen eye upon every part of the commercial
‘oat is more than liable to run up against a snag some day that will wreck his craft.

Better, far better, to be overly cateful than to be thoughtlessly negligent and full
of regrets.

If when you leave your store at night you do not place your books of account and
valuable papers in a dependable safe, you are, to say the least, thoughtlessly negligent.

DO NOT DELAY BUT WRITE US TO-DAY FOR PRICES

GRAND RAPIDS SAFE CO.
Tradesman Building Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Your local dealer is the one

person, next to yourself, who is most
interested in the satisfactory decoration of
your home. Because pleasing you will add to
his patronage, displeasing will detract. That
is why 30,000 honest, square-dealing merchants
in the United States are doing all they can to
put into American homes the beautiful interiors

 

to be secured only by using Alabastine. Your
local dealer wants you to have walls that har-
monize with your rugs and furnishings,—that
smooth, durable, sanitary, fashionable finish
which makes Alabastine the nationally accepted
wall tint. He will gladly sell it to you or your
decorator in packages which you may know
contain genuine Alasbastine by the cross and
circle printed in red.

  

astine

The Sanit ary Wall Coating

?

 

Instead of Kalsomine or Wall Paper

tains no aniline dyes.

5-lb. package tints Alabastine _

 

Should any dealer offer another material for the purpose, either he
is not familiar with Alabastine’s merits or does not fully appreciate
your desire to secure the best. If he will not order for you, write us
and we will see that you are supplied.

By mixing Alabastine—a dry powder—with water it is made ready
to apply with a suitable wall brush to new walls or old—any interior
surface—plastered walls, wallboard, over paint, burlap or canvas,
or even old wall paper where it is fast, has no raised figures and con-

PRICES

b-I8. : package. white Alapastine 202 75c

ae he nt item anes soe empties hee rt 80c
Special deep shades (No. 33, dark green—No. 58, deep brown)__ 95c

THE ALABASTINE COMPANY |=

on wenne
Alebastine Company
Comme jes sa

Miabigen U

449 Grandville Avenue, Grand Rapids, Mich. etree

Write for Free Interchangeable Color Chart Showing Modern Decorative Wall Treatment

 

ocal Dealer is
to Your Trade

 

 

 

 

 

—ag-