The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-12-21 00:00:00

SHOPS v. 'STORES."

in connection with the above subjtst, which is one '
of pnblic interest, the following letters have been cent
to The Times for publication :
Your space is too valuable for me to enter into a length-
ened argument In defence of the Civil Service Supply Asso-
ciation, and twill, therefore, confine roeelf to a dry state.
n.ent of the actual facts connected with Its rise and progress.
1. The Association was established for the purpose of
enabling members of the Civil Service to purchase unadul-
terated articles at a moderate price.
2. The friends of members of the Service were admitted
to the advantages of the Association, not with any benevo-
lent object, but to protect it egdnst the attacks of the re-
tail traders, who in its very infancy " put the &mew on"
those wholesale traders who supplied it with goods.
3. This addition of members enables the Association to
command the market and to defy the retail traders.
In cond.]. di, I warn the retail traders that If they carry
out In its entirety their scheme of preventing, by an Act it
Parliament or otherwise, the member. of the Service from
acting as members of the Association, the place of those
members so retiring would be filled up by gentlemen formerly
In the Service, and who are now beyond Treasury Influence.
The society in ',ugh a case would no longer he limited to
15,000 outsiders, but would be thrown open to every one who
wished to join It. The result would be hardly what those
who met in Willis's Rooms the other night would regard with
satisfaction.-1 am &a, A SnAlucaotbEn,
December 12.

The tradespeople, in their attack upon the Civil Service
Stores, appear to ignore two important facts which bear
upon the subject—first, the co-operatlve movement did not
originate in the Civil Service; secondly, the movement by
no means depends upon the Civil Service for support even in
London.
There are several flourishing co-operative societies in
London which are totally unconnected with the Civil Ser-
vice—the Army and Navy Stores in Victoria.street for
Instance.
Whether the Civil servants are to he permitted only to
form a society exclusively composed of members of their own
body—a consummation devoutly desired by hundreds of
Civil servants, as every one can testify who has attended the
Cannon-street Hotel half early meetings—or whether
they are to he alogether dented the privilege of co-opera-
tion cannot possibly retard the progress of co-operation in
London.
Has the Chamber of Trade seriously considered how
strongly the co-operative movement depends, not ou a few
Government clerks, but on hundreds of thousands of the
general public, whose liberties cannot be Interfered with ?
Yours, dm. J. It.
December 12.

"TIIE HANDWRITING ON TIIE WALL."
It is really 3nyond my comprehension—and I am a retail
trader doing all extensive business, ready and anxious to
sell to any one caller 53. worth or £lOO worth of any com.
wanly— why m) brother tradesmen persist in knocking their
heads against a wall.
I don't like ce- iteration, but I allow broadly it Is based
on sound principles, and there is nothing to he advanced
against it. If you ask me what I like, it is tbl- fashioned
profits and little competition, but the day is gone by for
either.
lam confident th the prices of tradesmen generally
have been for many :ears far too high, and the number of
distributors far toe numerous, and the public have suffered
and rebelled. In mitunerless instances these distributors
would not and could not have rushed into trade but for the
unjustifiably large profits they core desirous of sharing with
their established brethren.
The tradesmen of the United Kingdom have now a golden
opportunity afforded by the co-operative movement, but,
shrinking Irons using it. they approach every conceivable
side of the subj,ct except the right one.
Let them abolish credit (except by special arrangement
anti reduce their prices, and if they attend to their business
and are attentive and obliging to their customers, they will
presently have little to fear from cooperation : bat it they
disregard the "handwriting on the wall," to the wall they
_

will go.
As to the particular form of co-operation most objected to
by them, I think Ills unworthy of a wealthy and important
body like the tradesmen of the United Kingdom to magnify
this molehill into a mountain. The Civil Service co-operative
stores originated on good and praiseworthy grounds, and their
extraordinary development the tradesmen have to thank
themselves for. They may depend upon it the days for the ex.
lifting system of credit are numbered, no fanciful disc mnts put
cii to be taken off will bring a credit and a cash systemic work
together. As I said before, special arrangements can be
made In special cases, but f early money coly will cure the
atrophy the British tradesman is looking forward to. Already
man) of the weaker " distributing " vessels have foundered,
more will go, or find little advantage In trying to ride out the
gale, if they won't get their craft differently "found."
' I hoer suffere I from diminished profits, and I fee
directly and bulks ctly the effects of co-operalion : but Ire-
peat we have the remedy in onr own hands, and may pet
regain the confidence—and custom—of the public.—l am, ego.,
A RETAIL TRADER.

- --
Commentinv on one of the foregoing communications, the
Pall-Mali Gazette writes
In The Tieies there is a letter from a Retail Trader
which it would he well if every other retail trader in
the kingdom were to take to heart. The competition
GE en operative stores with shopkeepers is the text of
. the letter ; and this is the inibstance of what the Retail
Trader boo to say on the subject :
I dcii't like co-operation, but I allow broadly It Is based
noon Sound principles, and there Is nothing to be advanced
' against it. If you ask me what I like, it is old-fashioned
profits and little competition, but the day has gone by for
either. lam confident the prices of tradesmen generally have
been for ninny years far too high, and the number of dl.
tributors far too numerous, and the public have angered
and rebelled. In numberless Instances these distributors

would not and could not have rushed into trade but for the
unjustifiably large profits they were desiring of sharing with
their established brethren. The tradesmen of the United
Kingdom have now a golden opportunity afforded by the co-
operative movement, but, shrinking from using it, they
approach every conceivable side of the subject except the
right one. Let them abolish credit (except by special
arrangement) and reduce their prices, and if they attend to
their business and are attriltive and obliging to their cus-
tomers, they will presently have little to fear from co-opera-
tion ; but if they disregard the " handwriting on the wall,"
to the wall they will go.

-
This appears to us as sensible as it is candid. It in- ,
dicates a way out of the shopkeeper's ditficiulty which ,
will not only serve him, but, if generally adopted,
would be of the utmost benefit to the community. No
doubt many an honest tradesman may say with truth
that the practise of giving long credits, and it. inevit-
able consequence in a large amount of had debt, over-
weighta him fatally in a competition with the Store,.
The remedy, then, is a discontinuance of the practice
of giving lung credit.; and in our belief that is a re-
form which might be accomplished with comparative
ease, if only the tradesmen would combine in its
favour. One thing they have clearly before them,
that thousands of families are not only willing to rimy
ready money for cluoaper goods, but to take mitoh
trouble in the transaction; and that these families be-
long for the greater part to the clusee of society which
most love their own ease, and can best afford to in-
dulge it. Another thing they must know, that
the consumer would sooner go two streets off for his
goods than go a mile for them ; and many of the
customers ;I the co-operative stores go or send from far
greater distancea Not a few ahopkeepers have also
been made aware, through propositions 1:u that effect
actually made to them, that the consumer would
generally prefer getting his goods from a neighbouring
shop than from a,distant store if he could have them
at similar rates, with a small additional charge (or de-
livery. All these circumstances, taken together with
the fact that at the louver rates the stores make good
profitio, seem to indicate that if the shopkeepers in any
plans chose to combine for the reform of their trade
upon the principle of No credit and store mice., they
would emceed in keeping the business which now they
say is falling away from them : the more since cheaper
gou ds :means largercomiumption. And though we eay No
credit and store prices, it is not necessary, we imagine,
to I;tick tAI the motto literally. No credit may mean
strictly-limited weekly cre lit; store prices may mean
A charge somewhat in excess of those jurists—a charge
asked in return for the lalasam of delivery and the
keeping of weekly accounts on the one Bide, and paid
for the convenience of delivery and one payment a
week on the other. We air satisfied that if this were
made the common practice of trade in all that belongs
to household management, shopkeepers would have
little to dread from the threatening increase of co-
operative stores. Bat there is another consideration
which must by no weans he forgotten; the shop must
rival the store in the choice of good unadulterated
articles. At present, the belief is that the stores sell
better as well as cheaper things ; and no shopkeeper
can hope to compete with the stores unless he in pre-
pare I to rival them in all repents.
The benefit of such a reform to the community would
be immense. Long credit is a snare, anti to many
a household has proved a fatal one. Every day it leads
thoughtless people not yet dishonest into an expenditme
which their incomes cannot endure, or can only endure
at a cost of much future misery—of slegrs dation of
spirit, of recklessness at lard, which means dishonesty
for themselves and loss for their neighbours. Other
people are impoverished to make good their Insi debts,
and they themselves have no consolation for their past
recklessness and present discomfort, unless they happen
to be conscienceless rogues, whcse operations ought
certainly to be restrained under any circumstances and
by any reasonable means. We doubt whether any-
thing more fortunate could happen for society at large
; than the obligation to pay as it goes. It would make last-
ing the comfort of many a home. In effect it would give
more for money everywhere, and increase trade while
; it brought to it a security of which it is now in consi-
derable need.

The Times of Saturday, In the following leader, thns
revie+s the position and prospects of Co-operation

-
generally
It is somewhat surprising, however excusable, that
the Retail Tradesmen should Tidos PO excited an agita-
tion against Civil Service Co-operative Societies. The
first effect of such a meeting as that which was hell
the other day at Rooms is to proclaim to
all the world that tho,e Societies are immensely sac

cessful, and are continuing to draw away custom from
Shops on a very lane scale. We should have thought
a Tradesman would have understood that this was the
best advertisement a competitor could desire, and that
every expression of indignation would sound to the
ordinary imblic like a confession of defeat. No doubt, it
is hard for men who see theirbusineas slipping fromthem
to argue abut it quietly ; but their only hope depends
on their being able to consider with coolness now the
matter is likely, on a broad view, to strike the public.
They ought to keep steadily in mind that, in the end,
the cheapest mode of supply must be the most suc-
cessful with the vast majority of customers, and if a
real economical law is pressing them their only course
is to accommodate themselves to it. They betray, in-
deed, some appreheneiqn of this view of the matter by
fixing their attention on a secondary issue. Their in-
dignation is avowedly directed, not against Co-opera-
tire Stores in themselves, but against Stores managed
by Civil Servants of the Crown. They raise the special
plea that it is unjust for s clots of public servants to
bestow their leisure in competing with the taxpayers
horn whom their salaries are derived, and they
really seem to have persuaded themselves that thia is
an argument which will insure them the support both
of the public and of the Government. They venture
even to propose the introduction of a Bill into Pailia-
meat to prohibit salaried servants of the Crown from
becoming active members of trading communities.
They argue as if the Stores were dependent for their
success upon some advantages which such public
servants have over regular Tradesmen—as, for instance,
in being more independent of the fluctuations of
business. In short, they are trying how to persuade
both themselves and others that their impotence
consists, not in having to meet a new form of com-
petition, but in being unfairly weighted in comparison
si. h their new competitors.
It is satisfactory to see from the letters addreesei to
no that there are not wanting Tradeamen who discern
the futility of such pleas. It would be possible, no
doubt, for the Civil Servants to employ themselves too
largely in trading operations. The Crown has a right
to insie; that its servants should engage in no work
which would prevent them from holding themselves
fully at the service of the public. Regulations with
this object already exist, and their principle is a
reasonable one. But it would be equally impracti-
cable anal unreasonable to refuse to Civil Servants
altogether the right, enjoyed by almost every other
class in the community, of supplementing their ordi-
nary work by some other occupation. As a matter of
fact, Civil Servants distinguish themselves in Literature
anal the Arts, and no one thinks of complaining
that they are robbing the country of the service due to
it. The question is entirely one of degree, and the
Tradesmen admit as much by saying they would not
have objected to the Civil Servants maintaining Co-
operation among themselves. They complain of their
practically opening the Stores to the public, anal thus
establishing a vast trading concern. The answer to
this complaint is remarkable. The Stoma as a Share-
holder stated, were originally ostablished for the benefit
of the Civil Servants themselves. But it was found
that the retail dealers endeavoured to prevent
the wholesale traders from supplying the Stores
with goods, and it became necessary for the
managers to protect themselves and the whole-
sale dealers by appealing to a large number of
customers, and thus commanding the market. But
even assuming that the Civil Servants are transgressing
the limits of their privileges, of what importance is that
to the main question? When the Tradesmen encourage
declamation about the "Civil Servants of the Crown."
one would suppose the management of the Stores de-
pended on the co-operation of all the thousands of
larks; in Government offices. The fact is that the
management is in the hands of a dozen or no Allow
that they ought not to give so much of their tiros to
such a business, how would it advance the cause of
of the 'Tradesmen if the existing practice were
prohibited ? Would there he may difficulty in
finding men of practical ability who, for mode-
rate aalaries, would administer the whole
concern as succe-sfully as at present ? As a
correspondent has pointed out, no existing pro-
hibition against acting Civil Servants would exclude
the pensioners, and many of the latter class would
gladly. be relieved from the nioni tony of Idleness. It
may, in short, be good for the public service that this
or that Civil Servant should not manage the Stores,
but it can be of no importance whatever to the Trades-
men. There is at present some little check on the ad-
mission of customers, but anything which lessened the
connection between the Stores and the Civil Service
would only throw the advantage etill more widely open
to the public. In short, it is a plain confession of the
weakness of their case that the Tradesmen should have
thought it worth while to make so much of this plea.
'1 he real question at issue is not that of Civil Service
Stores, or of Army and Navy Stores, bait of Co-opera-
tive Stoma in general. If one set of managers is re.
Moved, another will be found ; and Co operative Insti-
tutions have, in fact, already appeared which are inde-
pendent of any such special connection.
The question the Tradesmen should ask themselves
is whether they could net fight the Co-operative
Societies with their own weapons. In the very facts
of which they complain they have before them the evi-
dence of an immense demand eager to be satisfied.
Thousands of people of all classes will take a consider-
able amount of trouble in order to obtain goods on the
terms offered at the Stores. Would it not be
for the Tradesmen to ask themselves what is a.,
attractiveness of these terms and to endeavour to
imitate them ? There can be no doubt where the
attraction lies. It is that the goods in the Stores
are cheaper, and the remora for their cheapness is
equally apparent. The Societies depend entirely
upon Ready Money dealings. It is a Tema. kable
illuatration of the extent to which the advantage
of such elealiugs applies that it ie said to have enabled
the Societies to beat the Tradesmen in the wholesale
market. Dealers who give credit must ask it; but the
Societies which receive Ready Money payments are
able to make them. There is a general concurrence of
admission that the average scale of high pricers is main-
tained in order to indemnify Tradesmen against long-
standing credits. Customers who deal for Ready
Money practically pay for those who do not. The
obvious remedy is to molts Ready Money prices; the
universal rule and to charge a definite percentage on
all accounts kept standing. If this were done, prices
could at least he lowered to an extent which would
diminish the attractiveness of the Storer,. It is not
necessary for the Tradesmen, in order to maintain
their custom, to diminish their charges to the level of
the Societies. Something will always be cheerfully
paid by a large part of the public for the convenience
of neighbourhood and of delivery. It will always be
worth the while of soma persons to take a great deal
of trouble to save odd percentagee in the cost of their
necessarice, and to such remotes the Stores will be a
permanent boon. But there will not less certainly be
another large class to whom the trouble will not be
worth While sinless the saving ho great. Let the
Tradesmen only recognize that these are the facts with
which they have to deal, and they need not consume
their energy in indignation meetings. If Co-operation
is to be successfully encountered, it must be with its
by to.
ly have own weapons. -

wiPer

A pedlar hae been selling in the Bernese Jura " Ad-
minion tickets to heaven" tor litiy centimes apiece.