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3 1262 08486 7 430 

Registry No. 215-1-13 

NATIONAL RECOVERY ADMINISTRATION 

PROPOSED CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION 

FOR THE 

COAT FRONT 

MANUFACTURERS INDUSTRY 

AS SUBMITTED ON AUGUST 31, 1933 

WE DO OUR PART 

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The Code for the Coat Front Manufacturers Industry 

in its present form merely reflects the proposal of the above-mentioned 

industry, and none of the provisions contained th~rein are 

to be regarded as having received the approval of 

the National Recovery Administration 

as applying to this industry 

UNITED STATES 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1933 

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For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - - - - - - - Price 5 cents 
SUBMITTED BY 

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COAT FRONT MANUFACTURERS, INC. 

(U) 
CODE OF FAIR COMPETITION OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 

OF COAT FRONT MANUFACTURERS, INC. 

Pursuant to Title 1 of the National Industrial Recovery Act. 

I-APPLICATION OF ConE 

This code of fair competition, formulated in compliance with, and 

to effectuate the policy of, an Act of Congress known as the " N ational Industrial Recovery Act", shall be applicable to all manufacturers of coat fronts in the United States. 

(1) The term "manufacturer" as used in this code shall include 

any natural person, partnership, business trust, association, or cor-• 

poration engaged in the manufacture of coat fronts. 

(2) The term "coat front" as used herein is defined to mean a 

combination of some or all of the following materials: Canvas, hymo, 

haircloth, and felt, for the purpose of reinforcing, shaping, .and 

facilitating the tailoring of men's coats. 

(3) The term " employees " as used herein shall include all persons 

employed in the conduct of such operations. 

( 4) The term "productive facilities " as used herein is defined to 

mean" coat-front machinery." 

( 5) The term "effective date " as used herein is defined to be 

August 3, 1933, or if this Code shall not have been approved by the 

President two weeks prior thereto, then the second Monday after 

such approval. 

II-GENERAL PURPOSE 

It is the purpose of this code to establish standards · of practice 

which will improve conditions in the coat front industry, increase 

its sales, and assure equitable distribution of business among its members through fair competitive relations; to provide for the welfare 

of the coat front industry's employees, and to secure to them continuity of employment and an appropriate share of the benefits of 

the industry's improvement; and to safeguard the interest of the 

buying public through the elimination of discrimination and diversity 

in price structure, and by securing a freer distribution of the industry's products. 

III-PRICES 

SECTION 1. .8 peci fie Inducements .-No rebates, bon uses, discounts, 

freight allowances, delivery allowances, storage allowances, overshipments without charge, gifts, advertising allowances, or other tangible 

inducement or economic advantage shall be given to any customer 

unless such rebates, bonuses, discounts, freight allowances, storage 

allowances, overshipments without charge, gifts, advertising allow10182--33 (1) 
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ances, or other tangible inducements or economic advantages arc 

announced or filed and allowed to all other customers. 

SEc. 2. Sales B elow Oost of PToduct'ion.-A. No coat fronts shall 

be sold or offered for sale for less than cost. 

B. The Board of Directors of the National Association of Coat 

Front Manufacturers, Inc., shall proceed at once to provide for the 

industry standard methods of cost finding which thereafter shall be 

used by all manufacturers; and shall ascertain and establish for the 

industry from time to time, the co t of the items manufactured by 

the industry. 

C. The term "cost" shall include, among other items, labor, prevailing market price of raw materials, shrinking, marking, spreading, 

and cutting, stitching, pressing, packing, and shipping, selling, discounts, insurance, interest on investment, office, and administration 

expense. 

IV-EMPLOYMENT AND wAGES 

SECTION 1. E1nployment of JJ,finors.-Employment of any per on 

nnder the age of 16 years is prohibited. 

SEc. 2. Collective Activities.-Provisions pursuant to Section 

7 (a). 

A. Employees hall have the right to organize and bargain collectivel:v through representatives of their own choosing, and shall be 

free from interference restraint, or coercion of employers of labor, or 

their agents, jn the designation of such representatives or in selforganization or in other concerted activities for the purpo e of 

c:ollective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. 

B. No employee and no one seeking employment shall be required 

a, a condition of employment to join any company union or to refrain 

:fron1 joining, organizing, or assisting a labor organization of his own 

choosing. 

SEc. 3. M axi1nurn H ou.?'S of Labor.-Forty hours oi labor shalJ 

constitute a week's work and no employee shall be required or per~ 

mitted to work any longer time. 

SEc. 4. Mini1nu'm Rates of lV a.ges.-On and after the effective 

date, the wages that shall be paid to any employee shall be at not 

les than the ·rate of 35 cent per hour, or $14 per week. 

Floor boys and apprentices shall be paid a minimum wage of not. 

less than 30 cents per hour or $12 per vveek, provided that no 

employee shall be classified as an apprentice for a period exceeding 

12 weeks. 

SEc. 5. WoTking Oonditions.-Safe, healthful, and otherwise sat-: 

isfactory working conditions shall be provided for all employees, 

which conditions shall as a minimum comply with the highest standards, respecting sanitation, cleanliness, light, and safety, specified in 

the factory laws of any State in which the manufacturer operates. 

V-MAxiMUM HoURs OF MACHINERY 

The productive facilities of any plant, shop, or factory shall not 

be operated for more than one shift of 40 hours in any one week. 
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VI-OVERTIME 

. Excepting executives and shipping department, on and after the 

effective date, manufacturers shall not operate on an overtime. schedule for their employees or machinery in excess of one hour per day, 

five hours per week, or fifty hours per year. Overtime pay shall be 

at the rate of time and one. half. 

VII-SALEs TERMs AND CoNDITIONs 

SECTION 1. Credit T erms of Individual Manufactwre?·s.-Identical 

credit terms and discounts shall be offered to all customers by each 

manufacturer, irrespective of quantity purchased, distribution or 

extension o£ delivery dates~ or any other factor of advantage or disadvantage in any offered order. Nothing contained in this section 

shall affect or impair existing contracts. 

SEc. 2. Unijor1n Credit Ter1ns.-Terms for the industry shall be 

2% 10 days E.O.M. or net 30 days E.O.M. No dating prior to the 

25th of the month. 

SEc. 3. Future Delivery.-N o order for coat fronts shall be taken 

where delivery is to be made beyond 90 days from the date of the 

acceptance of the order. 

SEc. 4. Sale on consign1nents.-The sale of coat fronts on consignment is prohibited as an unfair method of competition. The 

term ~consignment 1

' as herein used shall include the . delivery by 

a manufacturer to any eli tributor as agent, purchaser, or otherwise, under any agreement or under tanding, expressed or implied, 

pursuant to which the eller retains any lien upon or title to or interest in the goods delivered, or pursuant to which the distributor may 

at his option return any of the goods or claim any credits with 

respect thereto. 

VIII-RETURN OF MERCHANDISE 

The unjust return of merchandise constitutes one of the greatest 

evils in the industry. It involves an enormous lO$S and waste d_ue .to 

cost of resale, cost of reshipment, damage incident. to transporta6on, and absence of merchandise from stock at a time when it might 

.be read~ly disposed of. It is, therefore, agreed that no merchandise 

purchased and shipped in good faith and in accordance with the 

buyer's specifications may be returned for credit by any purchaser, 

or if returned, such merchandise shall not be accepted for credit if 

the same was retained by the purchaser for more than five ( 5) 

days. 

IX-ASSIGNMENTS 

No person shall hereafter take or receive directly or indirectly 

from any customer an assignment o:f accounts rec~ivable, or security 

in a:ny form whatsoever for the payment of merchandise, without 

notifying the Association that. such assignment or security has been 

received. 
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X-CONTRACTS 

SECTION 1. 0 onditional 0 ontracts.-Every order accepted by a 

manufacturer shall be a firm and unconditional contract. The solicitation or acceptance of contracts or orders to be shipped when ordered, or subject to confirmation, or subject to cancellation, or with 

the privilege to return the merchandise or any of it, or subject to 

any agreement, understanding, or arrangement with the purchaser 

that such contracts or orders shall be binding only in the event of 

some unknown or undetermined contingency, is prohibited. 

SEc. 2. OanceUations and Retwrns.-The acceptance by a manufacturer of cancellations of orders, or of the return of merchandise 

delivered in compliance with contracts, is hereby prohibited. 

SEc. 3. The making of oral or incomplete and ambiguous written 

contracts for the sale of coat fronts for delivery beyond a period of 

two weeks shall contain a definite statement of price, quantity, and 

grade, terms of payment, time, rate, and place of delivery, and all 

other elements necessary for a complete contract and shall contain 

a provision reciting that the prices therein contained shall be subject to modification from time to time to include increases in cost 

made mandatory upon the industry by the National Recovery Administration, insofar as such cost was incurred before delivery to 

the purchaser. 

SEC. 4. Adjustment of Oontract.-"'\iVhere the costs of executing 

contracts entered into in the coat-front industry prior to the presentation to Congress of the National Industrial Recovery Act are increased by the application of the provisions of that Act to the 

Industry, it is equitable and promotive of the purposes of the Act 

that appropriate adjustments of such contracts to reflect such increased costs be arrived at by arbitral proceedings or otherwise, and 

the National Association of Coat Front Manufacturers, Inc., is constituted an agency to assist in effecting such adjustment. 

XI-GENERAL uNFAIR PRACTICES 

SECTION 1. Trade Marks and Trade Names and Labels.-The imitation of the trade marks, trade names, slogans, labels, or other 

marks of identification of competing manufacturers, having the 

tendency to mislead or deceive customers or prospective customers 

or consumers, or the tendency injuriously to affect the business o~ 

such competing manufacturers, is prohibited as an unfair method 

of competition. 

SEc. 2. F(J)lse Labeling.-The false marking, labeling, or branding 

of any coat front, which has the tendency to mislead or deceive customers or prospective customers or consumers as to the quality, 

size, material, character, or grade of such coat front, is prohibited 

as an unfair method of competition. 

SEc. 3. 001nmercial Bribery.-The direct or indirect giving, per. 

mitting to be given, or offering of money or anything of value, by 

a manufacturer, or his agents, employees, salesmen, or representatives, to the agents, employees, buyers, or representatives of customers or prospective customers, or to the customers themselves, for 
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the purpose of inducing such customers or their agents, employees, 

buyers, or representatives, to purchase or contract to purchase from 

the manufacturer making such gift, or suffering the same to be made, 

or to refrain from dealing or contracting to deal with competing 

manufacturers, is prohibited as an unfair method of competition. 

Any employer or principal who learns of a violation of this section by 

any agent, employee, salesman, or representative, shall immediately 

terminate the employment o:f such agent, employee, salesman, or 

representative. 

SEo. 4. Defamation of Oompetitors.-The defamation or disparagement of competing manufacturers by :falsely imputing to them 

dishonorable conduct, inability to perform contracts or to make 

deliveries, questionable credit standing, or by other :false reports 

having the tendency to mislead or deceive customers or prospective 

customers, is prohibited as an unfair method of competition. Any 

employer or principal who learns of a violation of this section by any 

agent, employee, salesman, or representative, shall immediately terminate the employment of such agent, employee, or representative. 

SEc. 5.-Substitution of Materials or Grades.-Substituting other 

materials or grades :for the kind ordered without written approval of 

the purchaser, is prohibited as an unfair method of competition. 

XII-MONOPOLIES AND DISCRIMINATION 

This code is not intended to and shall not be construed in a manner that will promote monopoly or oppress, eliminate, or discriminate 

against, small competitors in the industry. 

XIII-ADMINISTRATIVE AND ADVISORY AGENCY 

SECTION 1. Reports.-A. For the purpose of enabling the agency 

to coordinate the efforts o:f members of the industry toward industrial improvement, and to assure the National Recovery Administration that the provisions of this code are being observed, and 

that the coat-front industry is taking appropriate action to effectuate the declared policy of the National Industrial Recovery Act, 

each manufacturer shall file with the agency every four weeks upon 

:forms prescribed by it, a report indicating : 

(1) The number of employees working during each week of such 

period, and the,total hours of employment. 

(2) The number of beginners employed and the proportion of 

the total pay roll paid in the aggregate to all of such beginners 

during each week of such period. 

(3) The total number of employees whose employment was begun or terminated in each week or such period, together with the 

number of employees hired as beginners, or whose period of instruction was completed, in each week of such period. 

( 4) The number of hours the productive facilities of each of 

his plants, shops, or factories was operated during each week of 

such period. 

B. Such reports are to be retained for permanep.t filing in the 

office o:f the agency and shall be available for inspection at any 

time by any agent or other representative of the National Recovery 
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Administrator. Monthly summaries of reported information shall. 

if requested, be forwarded to the National Recovery Administrato1< 

SEc. 2. Establishment of Agenoy.-A. The Board of Directors of 

the National Association of Coat Front Manufacturers, Inc., is 

constituted the agency to collect and receive such reports under such 

conditions as will insure that their contents will not be improperly 

divulged. 

B. To further effectuate the policies of the National Industrial 

Recovery Act, the Board of Directors of the National Association 

of Coat Front Manufacturers, Inc., is set up to cooperate with the 

Administrator as a planning and fair-practice agency for the coat 

front industry. 

C. Such agency may from time to time at its own instance, or 

on complaint by any person affected, investigate as to the functioning and observance of any of the provisions of this code, and present 

to the Administrator recommendations based on conditions in the 

industry as they n1ay develop fron1 time to time, which will tend 

to effectuate the operation of the provisions of this Code and the 

policy o£ the National Industrial Recovery Act, and in particular 

along the following lines : 

1. Recon1mendatwns as to the requirements by the Administrator 

of such further reports from persons engaged in the coat front 

industry of statistical information and keeping of uniform accounts, 

as may be required to secure th_e proper observance of the Code and 

l)romote the proper balancing of production and consumption and 

the stabilization of the industry and employment. 

2. Recommendations for the setting up of a service bureau for 

manufacturing, accounting, credits, and other purposes to aid the 

various plants in 1neeting the conditions of the emergency and the 

requirements of this Code. 

3. Recommendations for changes in, or exen1ptions from, the provisions of this Code as to the working hours of machinery, which 

will tend to preserve a balance of pro luctive activity with consumption requirement , o that the intere ts of the industry and the public 

may be properly ervecl. 

4. Recommendations for the malting of requirements by the A l~ 

ministrator as to practice by persons engaged in the coat-front Industry as to methods and conditions of trading, the naming ancl 

reporting of prices which may be appropriate to avoid liscrimination, to promote the stabilization of the industry and to eliminate 

unfair and destructive competitive .prices and practices. 

5. Recommendations for regulating the disposal of distress merch.andise in a way to secure the protection of the owners and to 

promote sound and stable conditions in the industry. 

6. Recommendations for making available credit information concerning customers or_ prospective customers to those engaged in the 

industry, of inforn1ation. regarding terms of, and actual functioning 

of any or all of the provisions of the Code, the conditions of the 

industry, and regarding the operations of any and all of the members of the industry covered by such Code, to the Pnd that during 

the period of emergency available credjt may be adapted to the 

needs of such industry considered as a whole and to the needs of the 

small as well as the large units. 
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7. Recommendations for dealing with any inequalities that may 

otherwise arise to endanger the stability of the industry and o:f 

:production and employment. ·D. Such recommendations when approved by the Administrator, 

.shall have the same force and effect as any other provisions of this 

Code. 

E. In the event that such agency shall find the rules of fair com~ 

petition or any provisions of this Code have been violated, it shall 

take such action as it deems proper in accordance with this Code, 

jncluding in appropriate cases report to the United States Attorney, 

-the Federal Trade Commission, or the recommendation that appro~ 

]Jriate proceedings be taken in accordance with the National Indus· 

trial Recovery Act. 

XIV-PARTICIPATION 

Participation in any subsequent revision of, or addition to, this 

Code, shall be extended to any person, partnership, or corporation 

in the coat-front industry who accepts his share of the cost and 

responsibility, as well as the benefit of such participation by becoming 

a member of the National Association of Coat-Front Manufacturers. 

Inc., provided, however, that no inequitable restrictions shall be 

imposed on admission to membership. 

XV-CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION 

The industry approves the practice of handling disputes in a fair 

and reasonable manner, coupled with a spirit of moderation and 

good will, and every effort should be made by the disputants themselves to arrive at an agreement. If unable to do so, they should 

agree, if possible, upon arbitration under some one of the prevailing 

~odes. 

XVI-REVISION 

Such of the provisions of this Code as are not required to be in~ 

dueled therein by the National Industrial Recovery Act may, with 

the approval of the President, be modified or eliminated if it appears 

that the public needs are not being served thereby and as changes 

jn circumstances or experience may indicate. They shall remain in 

effect unless and until so modified or eliminated or until the expiration of the act. It is contemplated that from time to time supplenlentary provisions to this Code or additional codes will be submitted 

for the approval of the President. 

XVII-PROVISION PURSUANT TO SECTION 10 (b) 

The President, in accordance with the provision of Clause 10 (b) 

of the National Industrial Recovery Act, may, from time to time, 

<·ancel or modify any order, approval, license, rule, or regulation 

issued under Title I of the National Industrial Recovery Act. 

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