The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-16
THE THREAD CONTROVERSY.
Statement by the Agents of j. & /


Statement by the Agents of j. g. P.
Coats.
The editor of the Economist has taken
special pains to investigate the repeated
charges made by the free trade press, that
the Messrs. i. & p. Coats and three other
well-known concerns are banded together to
Cypress and injure the Merrick Thread Com
| pany and that this four-headad hydra of the
thread trade was crushing out an infant in
| dustry that had sought to raise its head in
opposition to bloated monopoly, built up
and fostered into trust or combination by
the taritf-an this and a great many more
| words to the same effect.
In the first place, as the company which
claims to be oppressed is an American con-
| Germ, Incorporated under the laws of Massa-
| chusetts, with a paid-in capital of $750,000,
and operating its mills at Holyoke, Mass,
| and hae been in existence now about
| twenty-five years, it is difficult to see
| wherein this American infant of mature
| years has cause to plead its youth or wherein
the tariff has anything to do with its
troubles But to get light on this thread
question Edgar S. Auchincloss, of Auchin-
IL L.
interviewed, and expressed himself quite
plainly on the situation as follows:
81 suppose you refer to the article in the
Evening Post of last evening. Well, the
freetrade Erening Post is rather wide of
the mark this time
"Messrs. J. Sc P. Coats put down the
| price of their best six-cord thread last
March for the best of business reasons. Low
prices for bank thread in Great Britain,
cheaper raw cotton, and under valued in
voices gave the Englishmen a chance at
| the American market. Four well-known
| foreign brands appeared to solicit the pub
lie favor, and the American companies,
that had up to that time confined themselves
to manufacturers lengths and three-cord
| goods not remaining satisfied with their own
business, coveted that Of their neighbors
undersold the six-cord market. Between
these two fires the standard brands of ]. &
P. Coats, the Clarks, and the WiIlimantic
were badly undersold.
Snow, then, these gentlemen have got the
low prices they bid for, and they don't like
| them-'hence these tears and all this out
cry.
'Now about this talk of combination or
a trust among the leading thread men,
beg to say most emphatically that each
| thread company is directly responsible to
| the public for its own acts-and only for it
| own acts. can speak for Messrs. j. G. p.
Coats. and | say positively they are only
agreed with other thread-makers in the
American market to maintain a trade-price
system of sales by which the jobbing trad Q
can secure moderate profit on the capital
invested by them and j. & P. Coats thread
This profit is the bonus of ~ per cent.
paid semi-annually to dealers using 1000
dozen of thread. When you deduct the ex-
penses Of doing dry goods business from
this, as you probably know, it leaves a COM
mission of about "a per cent. net.
"Messrs. J. &c P. Coats do not regulate
the price of their thread after it leaves the
jobbers' hands. They bind the jobber to get
a fixed price, but the retailer who buys
from the jobber can do with the goods as he
| pleases
81 will also say that Messr S. j. g. P.
| Goats have never agreed with any one nor
attempted in any way to influence the
votes Of their employees at any time Their
mills are operated on business principles,
and politics have nothing to do with their
affairs. We are in no pool to divide pro-
duction, or profits, or losses of any kind
Each concern paddles its own canoe but
| they all maintain a jobbing-trade price
most zealously, and are prepared to defend
this system of sales as the only one by which
a middleman can secure a fair compensa-
ton for his outlay and time.
"The company championed by the
| Springfield Republican, has had since 1888
| to defend suit for infring cement of j. & T.
| Coats trademark. They copied the spool
head of Messrs. j. & P. Coats goods SO
closely that suit was commenced May, 1888,
for nominal damages of $4,000 in the
United States circuit court, southern dis
trict, New York, in equity. This case was
| decided against us by Judge Wheeler last
summer on the merits of the patent cover
ing the design having expired By limitation
of time We have taken appeal to the SUI
prene court Of the United States, where,
we believe, q full bench will consider our
trademark rights as Of greater consequence
than patent law. 1t may take several years,
but the integrity Of our trademark being
attacked, We proposed to see the issue
through to the end.
"Now, Mr. Editor, do you see any thing
| in all this moro than the attempt Of one SGT
| OF manufacturers to get hold Of the business
of other men, by underselling them, by
copying their trademark, and using every
trick and device known to the trade to Sc
cure in @ few years what has taken Messrs.
Coats and Clarks two generations to build
upl At any rate, that's all there is in it,
and it is really quite gratifying to note by
the Ereni1ag Post, that these Massachusetts,
people at tho present list prices do not seem
to be able to sell their goods"
And, renarking that he thought this was
about as long "length of thread" as the
Economists readers could use at one sit
ting, Mr.. Anchincloss closed the interview.
| Netc York Erening Post. FEB. 8, 1890.